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Kite Talks 

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Talks to Boys and Girls 

KITE TALKS 

RANDOM TALKS 

THE LIFE I OUGHT TO LIVE 



Talks to Boys and Girls 

KITE TALKS 

RANDOM TALKS 

THE LIFE I OUGHT TO LIVE 



BY 

REV. SYDNEY STRONG 




Chicago New York Toronto 

FLEMING H. REV ELL COMPANY 

London &* Edinburgh 
MCMII 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two Copies Received 

MAR 1 1903 

CLASS (X. XXc. No 
COPY B. 



3> 



i* 



3 



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COPYRIGHT, 19 


02, 


BY FLEMING 


H. 


REVELL COMPANY 


December 





CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Kite Talks n 

II. Random Talks 47 

III. The Life I Ought to Live ... 85 



KITE TALKS 



The Frame 

The Cord That Binds 

The Paper That Covers 

The Tail That Pulls Down, Yet — 

The Need of a Starter 

Against the Wind 

The String That Draws Upward 

The Hand That Holds 



KITE TALKS 



THE FRAME 

Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation 
against the time to come. — / Tim. 6: ig. 

Every boy and girl has a desire to get up in 
the world, to be a "rising young man," or 
"rising young woman." Let us learn from 
kite-flying. 

Sitting in my easy chair one day, I was try- 
ing to think of a way to tell the boys and girls 
how to rise in life, how to make life a success. 

"I will tell them how to make a kite, so it 
will fly. They know about kites. Perhaps, as 
I tell the story and show them how a kite is 
made, they will learn something about a life of 
success." 

When a boy, I made kites. With a sharp 
knife borrowed from father, I whittled out 
the sticks and cut the Cleveland Leader into 
the right shape. Then I carefully turned the 
paper over and fastened it with a flour-and- 
ii 



12 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

water paste. I remember the large school- 
yard just over the fence from our house, where 
we flew our kites. I remember the maple- 
trees into which our kites would sometimes 
dart or drop to our great grief. 

You must first build the frame or skeleton. 
You really need good material, light, and at the 
same time strong. Pick out a stick without 
knots, so that it will split with a straight grain. 
The success of the kite will depend partly on 
the material out of which the sticks are made. 
Many a good kite is spoiled because there is 
found a knot or cross-grain in the frame. 
Many boys and girls fail because they inherit 
a weak constitution from their parents. 

After you get your sticks, they need to be 
shaped. Get a sharp knife and go to work. 
What pleasure it is to get hold of a fine stick 
that makes long, white shavings! You cut off 
the rough ends, smooth the edges, sandpaper, 
polish, and notch, until the sticks are nicely 
fitted. This is what a boy or girl gets in the 
school and home — an education. Education 
is taking the rough material and whittling it 
down, cutting off the rough edges, polishing, 
notching, fitting, and laying the foundations 
for success. 

It takes three sticks to make a kite, two long 



KITE TALKS 13 

pieces and one short cross-piece. When they 
are all put together, then the frame is ready. 
It is the same in the making of a boy or girl 
who is to be successful. There are three 
necessary things in the foundation. 

1. Will-power. This is one of the main up- 
right pieces. You cannot rise in the world 
without a Will. No one ever climbed to 
heights without a purpose. Your Will-power 
must be firm, yet not brittle; strong, yet not 
obstinate. The Will has to be polished and 
tried. It is the greatest power on earth. The 
chief value of the home and school is in train- 
ing your Will, to get you to do what you do not 
want to do, or to keep you from doing what 
you want to do. The Will is the backbone of 
character. A man is a jelly-fish without it. I 
had a college mate who to-day is like a kite that 
has been out in the tree-top all winter. He 
had not Will-power enough to resist whiskey. 
See to it that this main stick in the frame is 
strong. Be like the boy of whom I heard it 
said, "When he takes a stand for the right, 
you cannot move him with a crowbar." 

2. Intellect-power. This is like the other 
stick. In our day, a boy or girl cannot rise 
in the world without Intellect-power. "Knowl- 
edge is power." If you have inherited a good 



14 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

brain, be thankful. Set to work to cultivate it. 
Get a sharp knife, i.e., a good teacher. Be 
whittled, and sandpapered, and polished. Go 
to school and have the rough edges knocked 
off. In the laying of the foundations, this is 
an important process. If not attended to, it 
will stand in the way of your rising. 

3. Heart-power. It would be a poor kite if 
the third cross-stick were not added. It would 
be weak and lop-sided and apt to dart from 
one side to the other or fall to the ground. 
Many strong men and women have failed 
because they have not cultivated the Heart. 
They are described as being "cold" and "dis- 
tant." They have splendid purpose and intel- 
ligence, but have little "Heart." They are 
unpopular. Their power over men is limited. 
They fall short of success. 

In making a kite, you must make the sticks 
of the right length. The two main sticks, Will 
and Intellect, must be of equal length and 
stand up together. If one is long, the other 
short, the kite will merely go round and round 
and make no upward progress. Zeal without 
knowledge, knowledge without zeal — either is 
bad. The cross-stick must be shorter than the 
others, else the kite will be lop-sided. 

Mind the frame of the kite. What the 



KITE TALKS 15 

sticks are to the frame, the Will, Intellect and 
Heart are to the power and success of a boy's 
and girl's after-life. 



II 

THE CORD THAT BINDS 

And above all these things put on love, which is the 
bond of perfection. — Col. j: 14. 

After getting the sticks ready, the next step 
in the making of a kite is to put them in posi- 
tion and bind them with a cord. In order to 
have the cord hold tight, it will be best to cut 
a notch in the ends of the sticks. 

But why a cord? Why not use other sticks? 
Sticks will do for the backbone, but to bind 
the parts of the frame together, something 
lighter, something that is strong and yet will 
give a little before the wind, is better. 

Now take a short piece of cord, wrap it 
around where the sticks cross at the center. 
Tie it tight. There, that will do nicely. 
Next take a long piece of cord and run it 
carefully around the ends. See that it does 
not slip off. Make it taut. Tie it securely — 
a sailor's knot will be best. That will do. 



16 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

The second step in the making of a kite has 
been taken. 

The cord that binds plays a very important 
part. The three sticks would soon fall apart 
without it. The cord looks to be rather unim- 
portant. It will soon be all covered up, and 
one who did not know would be apt to say that 
the cord was a useless part of the kite. If you 
cut it, however, or slipped it off one of the 
ends, little by little the sticks would loosen 
and get out of position, the paper would tear, 
and soon the kite would fall to the ground. 

What do I mean by the cord? You remem- 
ber the frame or foundation of a boy or girl 
who wants to rise in the world is made up of 
Will, Intellect, and Heart, well-trained and 
properly-proportioned, disciplined, and re- 
lated. The cord that binds them together 
and strengthens them is Love. I have this 
from Paul, where he calls Love the "bond of 
perfection.' ' Love is what completes the 
foundation to make a perfect man. 

You would like to know what Love is? Take 
your knife and cut off an inch of the piece of 
string. Rub it between your thumb and first 
finger until it falls apart. You see, what 
looked like one cord is made up of hundreds 
of little strands. The same is true of Love. 



KITE TALKS 17 

It is not any one thing. It is a hundred things 
twisted together. It is made of obedience and 
thoughtfulness, and politeness, and courtesy, 
and forgiveness, and reverence, and truthful- 
ness, and sacrifice, and unselfishness, and so 
on. There are also many kinds of obedience 
and thoughtfulness; so that Love, like the 
cord, is composed of thousands of tiny threads 
all twisted and run together into one strong 
cord. 

Love does two things, just as the cord does: 
(a) it binds the parts together into the strength 
of fellowship; (b) it completes the foundation 
for a useful life. 

First, Love binds the Intellect and Heart 
and Will together. They do not live unto 
themselves, in selfishness. Sometimes the 
Intellect says, "I will have nothing to do with 
the Heart." Feeling shall not enter at all 
into my life. That is like cutting the cord. 
Both are losers, and it is a great injury to the 
life. Or, suppose the Will says, "I will have 
nothing to do with the Intellect; I will not be 
governed by reason, but by my feelings." It 
is a disaster again. They all need one another. 
Love is the cord that binds them together. 
Where they cross each other, at the center, and 
when the winds tend to pull them apart, Love 



1 8 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

holds them together. And out at the very tip- 
ends, where they incline to be for themselves, 
Love carries a cord from one end to the other, 
on which go messages of need and comfort 
and strength. 

Second, Love completes the foundation for a 
useful life. Often there is a splendid frame 
for a glorious life, — bright intellect, strong 
determination, but little attention has been 
paid to the cord that binds. The life starts 
up on its career. The cord is weak, or it slips 
off the end. Then the paper, or outside life, 
begins to sag. A gust of wind makes the life 
reel. Then comes a gust that tears a hole. 
The Will wobbles; the Heart weakens. There 
is a fall. A life has collapsed. So, be sure 
that the inner, hidden cord of Love is well- 
woven and tightly fastened to the frame. The 
future depends upon it. Love is the cord that 
binds the parts of the frame together. 

Love is the cord that transmits power in 
time of need from one part to the other. It 
is the cord that quickly carries strength to the 
weakest part. Is the Will threatened? There is 
flashed from the Intellect and Heart power to 
sustain. Is the Intellect growing weak and 
weary? Reserves are sent from the Will and 
Heart, along the cord of Love. Is the Heart 



KITE TALKS 19 

depressed and lonely? Will and Intellect send 
messages of cheer. Love is the nervous sys- 
tem that joins the skeleton to the living body; 
it is the cord that is the "bond of perfection." 



Ill 
THE PAPER THAT COVERS 

By works was faitli made perfect.— Ja s. 2: 22. 

The next step in making a kite is to cover 
the frame with paper. The sticks having been 
firmly bound together and strengthened by the 
cord running from end to end, lay the frame 
down flat upon the table. Underneath the 
frame slip a sheet of paper, light and strong. 
Then cut the paper a little larger (say an 
inch) than the frame. Next, turn the edges 
over the cord and securely paste them down to 
the paper on the inside. After standing a few 
minutes to dry, the kite is ready for its tail. 

There are one or two things I might say 
about the paper. It is absolutely necessary. 
Without the paper, the kite would fall flat. 
It may not be as important as the cord or the 
sticks, but who can tell which is the most im- 
portant, when all are necessary? Is the main- 



20 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

spring, or the wheel, or the face of a watch, or 
the key that winds it, the most important? All 
are necessary. 

The paper must be cut larger than the frame. 

If I should stand the kite up against the 
wall, what would you see? Only the paper. 
The sticks and the string are hidden behind it. 

I am ready now to tell you what the paper 
represents in the building of character, in the 
making of a man. It is the Outer Life, — that 
which men see when they look at us. 

Do you remember that Paul once said that to 
make the right kind of a man there must be 
"faith," an Inner Life of obedience to God? 
That Inner Life is the sticks and cord. Then 
James spoke up and said that to make the right 
kind of a man there must be "works," an Outer 
Life, "to make faith perfect." They are both 
right. There cannot be the right kind of a 
man made without faith and works, — without 
the frame and the paper. 

The paper is our Outer Life — the work we do 
with our hands and feet and tongues. 

The amount one does, or the size of this 
Outer Life, depends upon the size of the 
frame. If a boy or girl has a small Intellect, 
or small Will, or small Heart — if he was cut 
out of a short stick — the Outer Life will be 



KITE TALKS 21 

correspondingly small. But if he has been cut 
out of a long, straight-grained board, has great 
caliber, the Outer Life must be large. The 
kite-maker requires of each according to his 
ability. 

A kite of small size, perfectly jointed, 
securely bound, and fully covered with paper, 
will fly higher, however, than a kite of large 
dimensions whose sticks are only half-covered. 
It is so with men. Many a boy of small intel- 
lectual power, small frame, has gone up higher 
in the world than his chum who had a far bet- 
ter equipment. It was because he had made 
the most of himself. 

It makes little difference what the color of 
the paper is, so it is strong and large enough. 
It may be white, or black, or yellow, or red. It 
may be the Evening News or the Cleveland 
Leader. The kite made from the newspaper 
may fly better and higher than the highly dec- 
orated kite. It is so with man. His color 
makes no difference. He may be engaged in 
a very ordinary work, may be a day-laborer, 
yet if his life-work is well done and is as large 
as God-appointed bounds — each according to 
his ability— he will hear, "Well done!" 

The Outer Life must be generously cut 
according to the Inner, — with a little to spare,. 



22 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

A successful man always does more than is 
demanded. He outstretches even the bound- 
aries of Duty and Love. He works five min- 
utes over time rather than five minutes under. 
* Here is a "don't-care" girl. She is like a 
kite whose paper has been carelessly pasted 
upon the frame. There will soon be a tear. 
Here is a "lazy" boy. He is like a kite whose 
frame is only half-covered with paper. He 
will never get up high. Here is a "lie" boy. 
He is like a kite whose paper is rotten. He 
will have a heavy fall some day. Here is a 
"bad-tempered" boy. He is like a kite which 
is being pricked full of pin-holes. Some day 
it will be torn wide open. 

The Outer Life must be strong and con- 
sistent. If a hole is made by some accident 
or carelessness, do not be discouraged; patch 
it before it gets larger. If the Outer Life is 
destroyed, take courage and a new one will 
come. Though the outer man perish, it will 
be renewed. Be true and upright, knowing 
that men will judge you by your deeds and 
that your success will depend upon your being 
sincere and honest. 



KITE TALKS 23 

IV 

THE TAIL THAT PULLS DOWN, 

YET 

They shall mount up with wings as eagles. — Is a. 40: 31. 

The kite is now nearly finished. After the 
paper has been put on, it looks as if there were 
very little left to do, yet what the boys call 
"the tail" must be attached. 

There are two or three things to observe in 
the making of the tail. 

One can never quite tell how much of a tail 
is needed until he tries to fly the kite; so he 
must be ready to add to or take from, after 
having "a try" with the kite. 

More tail is needed when a strong wind is 
blowing, so it is wise to have some extra bits 
of paper or strips of cloth in the pocket for 
emergencies. 

The tail must be fastened securely to the 
frame. It would not do to tie it to the paper 
or even to fasten it to the cord that runs around 
the frame, but it ought to be tied to a strong 
cord which is securely fastened to the two 
upright sticks of the frame — and fastened about 
two inches from the lower end of these sticks. 

One who was ignorant of kite-making would 
think that the tail was quite useless, in fact in the 



24 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

way, and a burden. "What a nuisance the tail 
is," he would say, "pulling down the kite and 
catching in the tree-tops! Far better it would 
be to take the paper and paste it on the kite or 
even throw it away." Yet the kite-maker 
smiles and answers, "What seems to pull the 
kite down is really what lifts it up. The tail 
is in reality the wings that make the kite fly. 
You might as well talk about cutting the wings 
from a bird because they are heavy." 

We go out to try our kite. At first it has no 
tail. What happens? It goes up a few feet, 
then suddenly flops over and darts head-first 
upon the ground. The sticks quiver, and lucky 
you are if the paper is not torn. Try again; 
again it darts to the ground. Now fasten a 
tail on. If it is the right kind, the kite begins 
to rise until perhaps it touches the clouds. 
And all the difference is in the tail? Yes. 
What looked like a burden was really a wing. 

But what has the tail of a kite to do with 
success in life? Much, every way. It would 
seem to be unnecessary, — a burden, a weight, 
a restraint, — but it is really what lifts up. 

Let us now make "the tail" that must be 
fastened to our lives in order to succeed, to 
rise in life. 

In the first place, there should be a long 



KITE TALKS 25 

cord — or "backbone" of the tail — on which to 
fasten the different parts. This cord is similar 
to the cord that runs around the frame holding 
the sticks together, i.e., it is made of the same 
material but is generally larger and stronger. 
This cord is made up of many strands and 
fibers, — thousands of them. Some of the more 
prominent strands are Love, Faith, Hope, Obe- 
dience, Forgiveness, Duty, Purity, etc. 

This "backbone" cord must be fastened to 
the frame, not to our Outside Life — for it would 
tear out — but must take hold of us at the very 
foundation, must be a part of us. 

On the long "backbone" I will first fasten 
a "wing," called the home. Here is where 
a boy finds his first restraint. He thinks he is 
held down. How foolishly anxious a boy is 
at some time in his life to break away from 
home restraints, to run away. Many a boy has 
tried it, but quickly over he flops and darts to 
the ground. Do you see those men and 
women — hundreds of them — who have risen in 
life? Hear them talk: "It was the home re- 
straints that saved me from failure. I owe it 
all to father and mother, who made me mind, 
made me work." No one can rise in life with- 
out early discipline in the home. 

Let me next fasten this hatchet on the 



26 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

"backbone." That represents work. Ask 
that great man .flying high above the heads of 
the people how he got up so high. Listen: 
"I was made to work, to cut my way through 
life." Boys and girls often hate the very 
sight of work. But work is a "wing." It 
seems to be a burden and a curse, but it helps 
to rise. 

After the home comes the school. What a 
restraint the school seems to be, so like a 
prison at times! How the boys and girls long 
for vacation! How they turn their eyes out 
the windows to the ball-ground and skating- 
pond! How dry a lesson is beside a party! 
What boy or girl hasn't felt at times like run- 
ning away from school? How anxious to leave 
school! But see that young man. He has 
risen to quite a height. All at once he makes 
a lunge downward. Hear him groan: "Oh, 
that I had only stayed in school!" See that man 
quite well up — but he sees hundreds higher up. 
"Oh, that I had only used my school oppor- 
tunities! I might then be soaring far higher 
than now." 

The school is one of the "wings" by which 
we go up. Teachers exercise great restraint. 
They say "don't" and "do." They hold the 
rod over us and discipline us. It is study in 



KITE TALKS 27 

the forenoon, in the afternoon. They spur us 
on, whip us up. They give us tasks and bur- 
dens. But listen to these men and women who 
have gotten up in the world, "Thank God for 
my teachers!" they say. 

There is another "wing" to be fastened to 
the tail before the kite may be said to be fin- 
ished. It is a "wing" that many omit, and its 
omission is the occasion of many failures. It 
is the church. The value of this "wing" to the 
tail is seen, especially in heavy, adverse winds 
and in the higher air. There are many boys 
and girls who will stand quietly while the bur- 
dens of home and school are being tied on, 
who grow restless and try to cut loose from the 
church. 

When my grandfather, with other New Eng- 
enders, came to Ohio, they built three institu- 
tions: first, the home; second, the school-house; 
third, the church. They could not get along 
without any of them. 

Down in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the 
museum, you will find three things — a cradle, a 
spelling-book, and a Bible. Our fathers be- 
lieved that the hand that rocked the cradle rules 
the world. They also believed that without 
learning all their liberties would perish. They 
believed also that a godless nation is lost. This 



28 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

is their experience. Every boy and girl is 
wise who heeds it. 

The church does not seem to be very impor- 
tant to a boy. Even parents often take little 
interest in having their children attend church 
or Sunday-school. Do you see that man who 
has risen higher than his fellows? Great 
mind? No. Strong body? No. But in 
obedience to God he just gave himself to 
others. He humbled himself and therefore 
was exalted. "I owe everything to the church, 
where my parents learned the secret of life, 
where I was trained for and inspired to serv- 
ice." 

Did you ever see a milk-stool such as the 
farmers use, when at early dawn they rest their 
heads against the soft flanks of the cows and 
draw out the rich, warm milk? I remember 
the one that hung near our barn door. Some 
stools are one-legged, some two-legged, some 
three - legged. A one-legged stool cannot 
stand alone, neither can a two-legged stool, 
but a three-legged stool stands firm. So with 
lives. Home, School, Church are the three 
legs of character, — the legs by which one 
climbs up the steep ascent of life to win the 
summit; or the "wings" by which one rises to 
the upper air. 



KITE TALKS 29 

V 

THE NEED OF A STARTER 

And he (Andrew) brought him (Peter) to Jesus. — 
John 1: 42. 

It takes two boys to fly a kite. When John 
has the kite all made, he must call his chum in 
to hold it. The chum is a starter. He holds 
it steady, and at the word gives it a little boost, 
and up it goes. 

Speak to that kite that is soaring high above 
our heads: "Tell us how you got up so high. 
How did it happen?" This is the answer: "I 
was out in the field lying on the ground. I 
felt a gentle pull but I could not get up, then 
I felt a firm hand take hold of me and lift me 
up. Next there came a pull, and this same 
hand gave me a gentle push and up I went, all 
the time feeling the pull." That firm hand 
was the starter. 

Do you see that man high up above his fel- 
low-men? If you are told his name — Peter — 
you will at once know who he is. "Tell us 
how you rose to such a height, Peter." Lis- 
ten: "This is the way it began. I was a fisher- 
boy, and was rough and impulsive and profane. 
I went to school to Jesus, and I owe all to 
Him. But let me tell you of the start. I had 



30 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

a brother, named Andrew. He heard of Jesus, 
and one day he took me and brought me to 
Jesus. He was my starter. He gave me the 
push that started me upward." 

Ask that other man, so large and rough — 
Moody is his name — how he got to such a 
height. Listen: "I was a young man in Bos- 
ton. I was rough and unpromising,— the prod- 
uct of a rocky New England farm. One day 
there came a man — his name was Kimball — 
who gently, yet firmly, took hold of me and 
lifted me up, and when I felt the pull of God 
he gave me a push, a boost; and from that 
start I have never stopped going up, and I 
hope never shall until I reach heaven." 

I recently called on a neighbor — a young 
woman, who showed me pictures of two young 
men. She said: "I am proud of those two 
boys. They are rising in the world. They 
were once in my Sunday-school class in Chi- 
cago, — a part that people call the slums. I 
have kept hold of them; they are bound up- 
ward." I said to myself, what a splendid 
starter this young woman is! And the Sunday- 
school teachers all over the world, who pick 
out boys and girls, take them gently and firmly 
in hand and give them a start upward! It is 
glorious! 



KITE TALKS 31 

Did you ever hear of John B. Gough, the 
matchless temperance orator? When a young 
man I heard him many times. What wonder- 
ful power he had to sway men! For years he 
was a miserable drunkard. One day he was 
lying in the gutter, — actually lying in the gut- 
ter of the street, drunk, his besotted face 
turned up to the sun and the idle gaze of pass- 
ers-by. A lady came to where he was, saw 
him, and before passing on took a handker- 
chief and gently covered over his face. When 
he awoke from his drunken stupor he found 
the handkerchief and realized that a good 
woman had had compassion on him. This 
kind act was a gentle push upward. Gough, 
after he had risen high, often referred to it as 
his start. What a blessed act! 

I once saw a young man walk down the aisle 
of the church, erect and manly, to confess his 
faith in church before men. Many afterward 
were drawn to Christ by his start. 

One may be only a starter,— a bit of a boy or 
girl, like the nameless girl-heroine in the 
palace of Naaman,— and yet be exceedingly 
useful. Often a fine clock stands still. A key 
is brought and it is wound up. Still it refuses 
to run. You take your finger and touch the 
pendulum, and off it goes. The finger touch 



32 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

was important, yes, necessary. If one cannot 
be a Peter he may be an Andrew. If one can- 
not rise to heights which will make others turn 
and gaze with wonder and praise, he may 
be a starter, — the hand that gently and firmly 
held a young life and, when God's cord of love 
pulled upward, gave the upward push that 
made great things possible. 

"And he brought him to Jesus." Who can- 
not be an Andrew? 



VI 
AGAINST THE WIND 

We glory in tribulation. — Rom. j: j. 

There are two or three things that a boy 
quickly learns about kite-flying. He never 
tries to fly a kite with the wind. It would fall 
flat and never go up at all. Neither does he 
go out to fly his kite when no breeze is stirring, 
for in this case he would need to keep running 
in order to keep his kite up. No, he goes out 
when a good steady breeze is blowing, and 
sends the kite up against the wind. He 
learns, also, that when the wind is strong the 
tail must be heavier than when the breeze is light. 



KITE TALKS 33 

The chief thing to learn is that if a kite is to 
go up it must go up against the wind. 

Some boys and girls are like the fancy kites 
that hang over the mantel-piece, or decorate 
the hall. They are made of soft tissue paper 
and of bright colors, but they are not made for 
the air. Their soft, tender sides would tear 
out in the least blow. There are boys and 
girls that are coddled too much. Their par- 
ents would like to have them learn how to swim 
if they did not go too near the water. Their 
parents are like mother-birds that would like 
their fledglings to learn to fly if they did not 
have to go out of their nests. I have seen 
boys and girls who were beautiful to look at, 
were all right for the parlor, but were of no 
use out in the world. The first gust of wind 
tore them to pieces. 

Some parents are like a boy who holds on to 
his kite after the word "let go" has been 
given. The boy sees other kites going up; he 
sees one or two dashed to pieces in the tree- 
tops; he would like his kite to go up, but there 
are so many chances of accident that he holds 
on. If he could only go up with the kite, but 
he can't, so he holds on. When the pull 
comes that would lift the kite up, he holds on. 

How many boys and girls are spoiled because 



34 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

father and mother are unwilling to trust them 
to "let go." The best friend a boy has is a 
father that trusts him, that lets him go out of 
his sight, that, in fact, gives him a little push 
upward, although it takes his boy away from 
him. 

Kites were made for air and adverse winds, 
not for ornament. Children are made for the 
world. The home is only one station in life, 
a place of fitting out, where boys and girls are 
to be started. It is a sad sight to see parents 
hanging on to their children long after they 
ought to be out in the world. It is a wise par- 
ent that gradually teaches his child to stand 
alone, to go alone, to read alone, to speak 
alone, and comes to trust him out of his sight. 
The child is better for it, and the parent truer 
to his trust. Let us learn of the birds, as they 
teach their young to fly. 

Kites go up only when against the wind. 
This is a very important thing to remember. 
Life that is easy and soft often spoils the child. 
The people who get up in the world have had 
to face adversity. The son of a rich man has a 
hard time of it. More honor is due him when 
he rises in the world. The history of the great 
and good is the story of the poor who have 
had to struggle against the wind. 



KITE TALKS 35 

The world in which we live is often a world 
of adverse winds, and a good thing it is. One 
of the wisest men that ever lived, and one who 
rose very high in the world, told men to "re- 
joice in tribulation"; and another man, nearly 
as great, said, "We ought to be glad when we 
fall into trials." When I think of the great 
men and women of history, I see that they 
were made great because they had to face hard- 
ships, and the hardships only made them go 
higher. 

We live in a world of adverse winds. We 
cannot help this, even if we try. The only 
question a boy or girl can ask is, Shall I face 
these winds or turn my back upon them? It is 
easier to turn one's back and drift along with 
them; but then one never gets up, and instead 
falls to the earth. It is far better to squarely 
face adverse winds, — hard work, poverty, 
temptations to swear and drink and smoke, 
and all such, — and when we feel the invisible 
hand, to respond. 

The way we face adverse winds determines 
our greatness and the height to which we go. 
Only as birds are pushed out of the nest and 
use their wings do they learn to fly and soar in 
the blue sky on high. Only as chickens are 
made to scratch for their lives do they increase 



36 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

in size and strength. Only as boys are put 
into the water and pushed out do they learn to 
swim. A log can float down stream, but only a 
boat pushed by the power of steam or strong 
arms can cut the current upstream. 

Adverse winds are made to test us, to 
strengthen us, to make us rise. Happy the 
boy or girl who sees and believes. 



VII 
THE STRING THAT DRAWS UPWARD 

I drew them with cords, with bands of love. — 
Hos. u: 4. 

A threefold cord is not quickly broken. — Eccles. 4: 12. 

After a kite is made, frame, cord, paper, tail, 
and all, a ball of string must be bought or bor- 
rowed from mother's cupboard. No kite ever 
went up without this string. 

The string ought to be strong, but not too 
heavy. The longer it is the better. Some 
kites never get up very high, because the owner 
did not lay in enough string. Be careful, too, 
in fastening it to the kite. It must be tied to 
the frame, not to the paper or the cord, and so 
tied that the pull will be even on all parts of 
the kit^ 



KITE TALKS 37 

I was flying a kite the other day, the wind 
was strong and came in gusts, when suddenly 
there was a strong tug, then a snap, and the 
string broke. What did my kite do? Go sail- 
ing higher? No, it rapidly fell, and I found it 
in a neighbor's yard, luckily uninjured. 

What is the string that carries men up and 
holds them after they get up? I hardly know 
what to call it. It is the cord that binds us to 
God. Take a piece of string and it will help 
you to understand what I mean. A Bible 
wise man once said, 'A threefold cord is not 
quickly broken." Unwind the strands of the 
string and you will see it has three strands. 
Let me ask another wise man to name these 
strands, and he will say, "Faith, Hope, and 
Love." Yes, we are held up and held to God 
by Faith^ Hope^ and Love. Sometimes this 
string is called Prayer. Whatever the string 
is called, it is the invisible cord that takes hold 
of us, pulls us upward and holds us there in 
storm and darkness as well as in sunshine. 
No one ever got up high in the world unless he 
had hold of the Eternal. Thousands of splen- 
did men and women have been ruined because 
they neglected prayer and lost faith, gave up 
hope, and ceased to love. 

The string is very important. It is better if 



$8 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

there are no knots. Every knot means a 
break, a fall, and a weak spot. If there are 
knots, try them before you send up the kite. 
This means that you must test yourself where 
you have once failed. It is best to get a new 
string occasionally. The faith of a boy, the 
progress of childhood, will not answer for man- 
hood. The string wears out and needs repair- 
ing. God gives only sufficient grace for each 
day. Do you see that kite high in the air? 
Beautiful sight. But that string has been used 
for weeks. It has been out in all kinds of 
weather. It has been put down cellar in the 
damp. It is rotten. Snap! away goes our 
kite to the ground. It needed a new string. 

The longer the string the higher up will go 
the kite. The height to which men go is only 
limited by their Faith, and Hope, and Love. 
This is the reason so many men only get above 
the tree-tops instead of soaring around the 
clouds. 

Here is a man that 1 want you to hear talk: 
"I was up above the earth, having gone up 
when the day was pleasant and the sun shin- 
ing. Suddenly a storm burst, the dark clouds 
rolled between me and the earth, and I could 
see for only a few feet away. My Faith was 
weak, and Hope nearly gone. I cannot de- 



KITE TALKS 39 

scribe the horrible sinking feeling and sickness 
that filled me. All at once I felt a pull which 
touched the very foundation of my being. I 
prayed and looked up. It was the cord that 
held and bound me to God. I held on by 
Faith, and soon the clouds rolled away." 

The string is God's telegraph line. He 
speaks loudest in the storm. When the sun 
shines and the sky is clear, we only know Him 
by the gentle pull. So He speaks to us by 
drawing us higher. But when the storm is on 
and the clouds roll under and around us, and 
the string gets damp and heavy, there flash 
little sparks up and down the string, just as 
there did for Franklin's messages, from God to 
us, and from us to God. 

God talks to us, and it is best that we simply 
listen. Prayer is hearing and obeying rather 
than asking. I took a small piece of paper 
recently and slipped it over the string after 
writing my name on it, and soon it began to 
rush upward toward the kite. The only thing 
that hindered it were the knots. This is the 
Bible. God has written His name and with 
messages has sent it up to men. 

I was once walking out at night when I met 
a couple of boys who were seated on the 
ground holding a stick of string. I thought 



40 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

they were playing some trick. "No," they 
said, "we have a kite up there." I laughed 
and said, "I don't see it." They replied, 
"Just feel of the string." I leaned over and 
felt of the string, and, sure enough, I felt a 
pull. I knew it was a kite, just as a fisherman 
knows when he has a pickerel on his line. 
That pull told me that there was a kite up there 
somewhere in the darkness. So, there are 
thousands of lives that are enshrouded in 
night's gloom and darkness. No man sees 
them. Sorrow and disappointment and loss 
encompass them. But God knows. If you 
could get near to God, and could feel the 
string, you would feel a pull that would tell 
you that they were high up somewhere in the 
sky, though in darkness. 

Look well to the string that draws us up- 
ward. See to it that it is kept fresh and strong. 
See to it that it is long enough to let us above 
the tree-tops and houses, where the wind is free 
and strong, where there is "liberty" of the 
spirit; and remember that "a threefold cord is 
not quickly broken" — not Faith or Hope or 
Love alone; but Faith, Hope, and Love, twisted 
together into the cord of Prayer and holding 
us to the Eternal. 



KITE TALKS 41 

VIII 
THE HAND THAT HOLDS 

For the Lord spoke unto me with a strong hand. — 
Isa. 8:11. 

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right 
hand shall hold me. — Psa. ijg: 10. 

You will be surprised if you turn to a large 
Bible concordance, to see how often God is 
spoken of as a Hand. In the psalms and 
prophecies and history-books, He is frequently 
thought of as the Hand that leads the people. 
The psalmist said that a man might take the 
"wings of morning and fly to the uttermost 
parts of the sea," yet even there God's Hand 
would hold him. As the hand holds the kite 
in its upward flight, so the Hand of God holds 
us. 

It is the Hand that made us. It was the 
Hand that took the rough sticks and whittled 
out the frame for the kite, that polished them, 
that took the cord and run it around from end 
to end, that carefully cut out the paper and 
pasted it on, — that tied us to the home and 
church and school, that tied the string that 
holds us up, to our Hearts and Wills and Intel- 
lects. He made us. 

We speak sometimes about a man being self- 



42 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

made. Don't ever believe that. Nothing ever 
made one one-hundredth part of itself. There 
is not the least bit of ground for anyone being 
egotistic because he has more strength of body 
or mind than other boys and girls. Our homes 
and schools and churches, our parents, teach- 
ers, and playmates made us, and God made us. 
In the beginning, God created the heaven and 
the earth. He has kept on making everything 
that is made. His Hand fashioned us, pol- 
ished, whittled us. We are the work of His 
Hand. 

It is a wise boy who learns what Wendell 
Phillips, as a boy, learned. He had heard that 
God made him and he, with good sense, de- 
clared, "Then I am His." The kite belongs to 
the boy that made it. The boy belongs to the 
Hand that fashioned him. It is a great lesson 
to learn, children, to look up and call God 
"My Maker!" "I am His; for He made me." 

It is the Hand that leads us. What an impor- 
tant day for the kite, when, after it is ready, it 
is taken out and started upward. Father and 
mother and playmates are all invited to see 
the trial trip when the hand that made it starts 
it. So with God. When all is ready, the 
Hand takes us out into the open field, gives us 
a pull and a start in our upward way. Some 



KITE TALKS 43 

of us never knew who it was that pulled us. 
A playmate perhaps started us, but far away, 
beyond our sight, was the Hand that drew us 
to Him. He is called in the Bible the 
"Alpha," i.e., the "A" or first letter of the 
alphabet, the beginning. It is His Hand 
that, when we are ready, draws us up into 
higher life. 

It is the Hand that holds us. Suppose the 
hand lets go of the kite. Immediately it goes 
crashing to the ground. But God never lets 
go. No matter how dizzy the height, He holds 
us by His Hand. This is the reason why the 
great Lincoln, on starting from Springfield for 
Washington, to take the presidential chair, 
asked his neighbors that he might ever keep 
hold of God and be sustained by Him. He 
once also said, "It is a matter of great con- 
cern, not whether God is on our side, but 
whether we are on God's side." When God has 
hold of us there need be no fear. 

Sometimes, when a boy gets a kite high up 
in the air, he ties the string to the fence and 
goes away. It is a careless thing to do. 
Nothing may occur, but should the wind in- 
crease or fall there is likely to be a disaster. 
There is nothing like the hand; for when the 
kite begins to tug and fret, the hand can play 



44 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

out the string; or when the kite begins to fall, 
the hand can draw it in and keep it up. So 
with the Hand that watches our lives. How it 
lets out and draws in according to our needs! 

It is the Hand that receives us after our 
flight is over. It is a beautiful sight to see a 
boy, who has sent the kite up among the 
clouds, after the afternoon is spent and the sun 
is going down and the wind is falling, gradu- 
ally wind his kite in and, taking it over his 
hand, much as one carries a pet bird upon his 
finger, go homeward to place his kite among 
his treasures. 

So with life. The Hand that made us, the 
Hand that held us, the Hand that watches over 
us, will, if we hold to Him in faith and 
prayer, when the day is over and the sun is 
sinking in the western sky and adverse winds 
of life have fallen, gradually draw us closer 
and nearer by the cord of Faith and Hope and 
Love, until at last, resting in His Hand, we shall 
be carried to His home, there to be numbered 
among His treasures. 



RANDOM TALKS 



Putting Otit to Sea 
A Cheap Girl 
A Boy without a Fist 
Twinkler, Ti?ikler and Tattler 
Martin's Qiieer Bargain 
The Lake of Give 
The Plugged Quarter 
The Three Sisters 



45 



RANDOM TALKS 



PUTTING OUT TO SEA 

You are getting ready to put out to sea — the 
"Sea of Life." Come with me and we will 
take a seat on one of the piers in New York 
harbor, where bare-legged boys and lazy men 
are fishing, and watch that steamship that is 
about to put out to sea. 

Coali?ig Up. Look at those black, soot-cov- 
ered men. They are shoveling coal into a 
great iron bucket. Now it is full. A signal 
is given, a little stationary engine begins to 
puff, a chain lifts the bucket high in the air, 
swings it over the ship, a pin is pulled, the 
bucket tips, and the coal falls amidst a cloud 
of dust into the ship's bunkers. They are 
"coaling up." Tons and tons must be stowed 
away to feed the hungry furnaces, before the 
ship dare put out to sea. Here are other 
men, not so dirty, but hard at work, carrying 
quarters of beef, potatoes, flour, water, ice, 
47 



48 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

grapes, — all that men eat. The furnaces must 
be fed with coal; so must the passengers and 
crew with provisions. 

Cargo. Now look at the heavy wagons that 
are backed along the wharf, — a long line of 
them. A hundred men are unloading bales of 
cotton for England; dressed beef and cheese 
for Germany; machinery for South Africa. 
There are large bundles, little boxes, barrels, 
rolled, tumbled, thrown down through a hole 
in the deck, to be stowed away in the hold. 
All this is the cargo, without which it would 
not pay to go to sea. 

Captain. Look again. These men have 
stopped. The coal is in the bunkers, the 
cargo in the hold. Everyone except passen- 
gers is being ordered ashore. Some are 
weeping, some laughing. Last letters, last tele- 
grams are being sent. Do you see that man in 
uniform who has stepped on the high plat- 
form — the "bridge" — and is giving orders? 
Now he puts his mouth to a tube and speaks 
to an officer; now he pulls a rope which rings 
a bell in the engine-room. There, the machin- 
ery is moving, the great screw strikes and 
lashes the water, the ship moves, slowly at 
first, and then it is gliding down the bay and 
soon will be out to sea, Who was that man? 



RANDOM TALKS 49 

The captain. It would not do to go to sea 
without him. 

As we walk homeward there are three things 
to remember. The voyage upon the sea of 
life will be a failure without supplies, without 
cargo, without captain. 

Supplies! Many a man has found in mid- 
ocean that he has run out of supplies. He has 
not education enough; he did not "coal up" 
when he was a boy. Now is the time, my boy. 

Fill up the bunkers. Sleep, eat, exer- 
cise, study, — the voyage is long. 

Cargo! Too many put out to sea empty, 
with no purpose, no life-work. Carry burdens. 
When you enter the harbor on the other side, 
if you are loaded with good deeds many will 
be there to meet you with rejoicing. 

The Captain! Your good ship, however well 
loaded, will go to the bottom without a cap- 
tain. There is One who has crossed the sea of 
life many times, who never lost a ship, who 
knows the light-houses and rocks and shoals. 
Before you start out, ask Him to take the 
bridge, then all will be well. You know who 
He is, — Christ. 



50 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

II 

A CHEAP GIRL 

I once heard a teacher describing a certain 
girl: "The trouble with that girl is that she is 
too common. She indulges in cheap talk. 
She is just common trash." 

A cheap girl! How different were the words 
I recently heard on the street car! A teacher 
was speaking of a pupil: "She is a rare girl. 
She has high ideals, is simple in her tastes, is 
pure-hearted, — there is nothing cheap about 
her. She is a real treasure." 

A cheap girl! Let me see if I can describe 
her. 

i. Ha?igi?ig around the Boys. A girl that 
hangs around the boys is cheap. Boys think 
less of girls who are all the time running after 
them. They are too cheap. Men choose 
their wives as they get their wedding clothes: 
they want nothing common nor cheap; noth- 
ing that has been exhibited in the show-window 
all the season and looked at and handled by 
every customer. The girl that turns her head 
every time the boys pass, that uses every pre- 
text to turn the corner where the boys are, that 
talks a stream about Tom, Dick, and Harry, — 
is a cheap girl. She is held in low esteem by 



RANDOM TALKS 51 

the boys even. She is shop-worn, second- 
hand, a cheap girl. 

2. Permitting Liberties. A girl who lets boys 
take liberties with her is cheap. Two boys 
once held a discussion — it was in my boy- 
hood — about one of the girls. One said she 
was cheap and common; the other stoutly 
denied it. "Well," said the first, "I'll bet I 
can get a kiss from her to-night." They were 
going to a party. "I'll bet you can't," replied 
the other. The first failed, and when it got 
around among us boys — as such things do — 
that girl popped up in the esteem of all. She 
was not common. No other girl was more 
admired. 

A casket! God has given to every girl a 
little casket of charms. If she displays them 
to everyone who goes by, gives them to all 
who ask, casts her "pearls before swine," 
before long her charm is gone. Even those 
who ran after her now despise her as cheap 
and common. 

3. Pri?iciples. A girl who has no high prin- 
ciples is a cheap girl. The cheapest girl I 
know of is one who lives like a butterfly, buzz- 
ing, around like a bee gathering honey at 
every flower. The girls we used to admire the 
most were those who flatly refused to go with 



52 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

the boys who smoked or drank, and who had 
backbone enough not to care whether they 
danced or not. 

A girl's power! I once heard a boy say of a 
girl whom he fairly worshiped: "If 1 should 
ever see her dancing and rushing after the 
boys, like some of the other girls, I shouldn't 
believe in God." He was a trifle foolish to 
talk like this, yet thousands have been held to 
God by faith in a true woman. This was his 
way of expressing his admiration for a girl of 
high principles. 

God has endowed you, my girl, with rich 
gifts, — more precious than jewels. How great 
is your power to lift up or pull down! Do 
not be common or cheap. You can be a very 
queen, in thought and life, and bring the 
world to your feet in love and admiration. If 
you are cheap, by and by the world will fling 
you aside. 

A queen! You have read of the grand Queen 
Victoria — how, when as a girl, it became known 
to her that she might become queen, she said, 
"I must begin to live like a queen." Let 
every girl know that she is born to become a 
queen. "I must begin to live like a queen." 



RANDOM TALKS 53 

III 
A BOY WITHOUT A FIST 

Did you ever think, What is a fist good for? 
It serves two purposes: (1) To strike. One can 
put all his strength into one blow. (2) Ho grip. 
A boy without a fist would be like a carpenter 
without a hammer and a vise. A boy without 
a fist couldn't play ball, tennis, or cricket. 
He'd be robbed of half the fun of life. He 
couldn't handle a hoe, swing a hammer, milk 
a cow, or run a lathe. 

Hold up your hand, my boy. I want to look 
at your fingers. 

Play. I will look first at your little finger. 
I call that finger "Play." Do you like to 
play? When the boys go swimming, do you 
stay at home? When some boy yells "bat," 
and others "catch," "pitch," "short-stop," is 
your voice heard? Do you sit around and 
watch the game, or are you in it? Do you 
like to roll over on the grass and hop, skip and 
jump on every occasion? That little finger- 
that cunning, wiggling little finger that stands 
at the end of the row, — is "Play." Your 
whole hand would be crippled without it. 
You would make a poor fist. The play-ground 
is the first and perhaps the best school of life. 



54 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

A boy with no play in him is like a fist with 
the little finger gone. 

Health. Hold up your third finger. I call 
that finger "Health." I knew a boy who went 
to bed at any and all hours. He ate all kinds 
of food. He formed the miserable habit of 
smoking cigarettes, which produced a weak, 
irregular heart. That is a boy with the third 
finger gone. He can't take a firm grip on life 
and its work and play. While others are push- 
ing to the front, winning honor, doing work, 
he is lagging behind. 

Right. Hold up your big finger. I call that 
"Right." Did you ever tell a lie? Do you 
remember when you slipped a nickel out of 
mother's pocket-book or father's overcoat? 
That wasn't square and honest. It makes a 
poor fist when the big finger is gone. He is 
the "big fellow," a kind of a center-rush fin- 
ger. He is the pride and strength of the hand. 
Better lose the little finger or the third, than 
this Ajax. A boy who isn't upright, who isn't 
square and honest, is a hand with the big finger 
gone. 

Study. Now for the first finger. I call that 
"Study." If you had your own way, would 
you go to school? Since you must go, are you 
getting through in the easiest way possible? 



RANDOM TALKS 55 

Do you know that knowledge is power? Do 
you trust to luck, in preparing your lesson, 
hoping that you'll not be called up at the wrong 
place? It makes a poor fist — when the first 
finger is gone. It is a boy without mental 
grip. He can't strike out with power. That 
means a cripple throughout life. 

Love. The thumb — how necessary to make 
a fist. A hand without a thumb is a life with- 
out love. This is what I call the thumb, — 
"Love." How useful the thumb is! By itself 
it is of little account. But it reaches over and 
touches the first finger and you have a circle. 
These two grasp the pen, mightier than the 
sword. So when learning is touched with love 
it is divine wisdom. The thumb reaches over 
and touches the big finger and lo, it is right- 
eousness touched with love! Love binds the 
whole hand into a fist of power and service. 
Love is the "bond of perfectness." A boy 
without a fist is a boy without power. 

Look at your hand. The little finger — Play; 
next finger — Health; big finger — Right; fore- 
finger — Study; the thumb — Love. And are 
they all there, active and strong? If so, you are 
a boy who will be able to strike heavy blows 
and take a grip on the problems of life. 



56 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

IV 

TWINKLER, TINKLER AND 
TATTLER 

Are you afraid of burglars, boys? Mr. 
Ames told us last night, how burglars had 
paid him five visits. Our boys' eyes fairly 
bulged as they heard him tell of hearing a man 
coming up the stairs in the dead of night; and 
then of another time when he woke up with a 
start, to see a man creeping along the floor 
and, as he yelled, the burglar jumped from 
the top to the bottom of the stairs, with a thud 
that made his wife think that some one was 
shot. 

Burglars are unpleasant visitors, and you'd 
rather hear about them than have them call. 

There are three ways, so some Englishman 
has said, to keep burglars out: (i) By "Twink- 
ler"; (2) By "Tinkler"; (3) By "Tattler." 

By "Twinkler" he means a light left burn- 
ing all night long. By "Tinkler" he means a 
bell connected with the doors and windows 
that will give warning. By "Tattler" he 
means a little dog that sets up a barking at the 
approach of danger. Twinkler, Tinkler and 
Tattler will keep a house pretty free from bur- 
glars. 



RANDOM TALKS 57 

The Englishman gave me an idea, — and it 
struck pretty hard — of how a boy can keep 
burglars from stealing away his valuables. 
You know everybody starts out in life with 
some "crown jewels," that are more precious 
than gold or silver. That Englishman has 
showed a fine way to keep burglars off. 

1. By ' ' Twi?ikler." Have a light burning at 
night. It is a good idea not to have it burn 
in one place all the time, but in different 
rooms. That means, when you are in tempta- 
tion, let your light shine. Let the boys know 
where you stand. If other boys invite you to 
drink, or curse, or sneak, or do a dirty trick, 
let your light shine and it will scare them 
away. "Twinkler" is a good fellow to drive 
away evil. 

2. By "Tinkler." That means put warning 
bells at the doors and windows. How many 
warning bells there are! The words of our 
teachers and parents and of the Bible! Here 
is a bell that once woke me up: "Sow an act 
and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap 
a character; sow a character and you reap a 
destiny." He who heeds the warnings of the 
good is wise. 

3. By "Tattler." He is not always a pleas- 
ant fellow to have around. He fusses a good 



5 8 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

deal. Then he is liable to wake one up, when 
one would rather sleep. But everybody has a 
"Tattler" given to him, when he begins life, 
whose business is to give warning of danger. 
He is called "Conscience" by some. I rather 
like the name "Tattler." It won't do to turn 
him outdoors nights, nor to shut him down in 
the cellar, but let him sleep on the door mat 
right in front of your room. Evil rarely gets 
into a heart where there is a live, well-kep^ 
"Tattler." 



MARTIN'S QUEER BARGAIN 

I wish to tell you about a man who livetf in 
the City of Life, on Worldly Avenue. I dare 
say that he lives there now, as I have not heard 
of his going away, and some of you boys and 
girls will find the house if you chance some day 
to be going down that avenue. The house sits 
back from the street; so far that some neigh- 
bors have given it the name of "Hermitage." 
A high stone wall is in front, completely shield- 
ing it from the view of the passer-by, save at 
the gate where one can get a glimpse of the 



RANDOM TALKS 59 

house among the trees. The name of the man 
— who must be quite old now — is Martin. 

There is one strange thing about Mr. Martin 
of which I wish to tell you. He was nearly- 
blind, nearly deaf and had nearly lost the sense 
of taste. It all came about as the result of a 
queer bargain that he made when he was a 
young man. People all speak of him as very 
foolish. It is also said that he has many times 
been overheard to call himself a fool. Still he 
sticks to his bargain, and a resident of the City 
of Life says that many more have made the 
same queer bargain. 

It seems that when Martin was a young man, 
he was very fond of music and pictures and 
good meals. He was full of life and some- 
times he thought that he would never lose his 
strength or health. He was at times quite a 
spendthrift, and it came to such a pass that he 
was occasionally found wasting his strength on 
late suppers and gambling away his health to 
pleasure, for there are other gamblers besides 
those who play cards. One of the worst gam- 
blers is one that stakes his health and reputation 
for money or pleasure and in the end loses all. 

One day one of his neighbors, a Mr. Black- 
man, called. He was a very fair-spoken man. 
His family history was a little mixed, but he 



60 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

was of ancient family. The old name was 
Serpent or Devil; but now many of the resi- 
dents of the City of Life doubt if anyone by 
the name of Devil exists, and conclude that 
it had grown out of some myth, suggested by 
serpents of the sea. Mr. Blackman never 
seemed to be proud of his ancestry, although 
it reached back to the temple of Solomon. 
Some of them had been in the Revolution, 
others had come over shortly after the "May- 
flower" if not in the "Mayflower" itself, and 
others had crossed the channel with William 
the Conqueror. In fact such prominent names 
as Judas and Nero and Cleopatra belonged to 
branches of this family. Mr. Blackman was 
enormously wealthy. He had stock in brew- 
eries, distilleries and many corporations, and 
held a mortgage, some have said, on more 
than half of the houses in the City of Life. 
He moved in the best society, but also had 
many relatives among the very poor. 

When he had seated himself in Martin's par- 
lor he said that he would come directly to busi- 
ness. "I know," he said, "that you are very 
fond of pictures and music and good things to 
eat, but haven't means enough to gratify your 
tastes. It is no sin to be poor; but to remain 
poor when you may be rich is a shame. Now, 



RANDOM TALKS 61 

I notice that you are rich in eyesight and hear- 
ing and appetite, while I have partially lost 
mine. I have, on the other hand, abundance 
of paintings and instruments of music and my 
storehouses are bursting with good things. It 
occurred to me that we might make a bargain 
that would benefit both. Now I will agree to 
deliver to you each week a wagonload of pro- 
visions to your order, one choice painting and 
one musical instrument, if you will each week 
return to me one ten-thousandth of your eye- 
sight, one ten-thousandth of your hearing and 
one ten-thousandth of your appetite. You 
see," he hastened to say as Martin shook his 
head, "you will not miss what you give. You 
have more life than you can use. Why, ten 
thousand weeks are nearly two hundred years. 
What's more, we will agree to try it only five 
years, then you can stop. You will be rich 
with musical instruments and paintings and 
will not know that you have lost anything." 

Finally, Mr. Martin agreed to the bargain. 
After that, each week Mr. Blackmail's wagon 
drove up with rich provisions, fine paintings 
and musical instruments, and the driver took 
away with him one ten-thousandth part of his 
appetite and eyesight and hearing. Mr. Mar- 
tin was jubilant. Now he could give himself 



62 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

up to pleasure. He shut himself in from the 
neighbors. Each week he sent his order in for 
the things that he wanted. He turned one of 
the large halls into an art gallery. At one end 
he first of all ordered a fine pipe organ put up. 
He ordered all kinds of music boxes, with 
sacred and popular airs. He ordered the latest 
and best gramophones and graphophones. 
The hall was crowded with pianos, violins, 
banjos, mandolins; in fact became a museum 
of rare and expensive instruments of music 
from all nations. The walls of the gallery, 
and then the adjoining rooms began to be cov- 
ered with rich specimens of ancient and mod- 
ern art. Mr. Martin considered himself a very 
fortunate man. "Plenty to eat and drink, 
plenty to hear, plenty to see! Who can be 
happier than I?" and he rubbed his hands e^ch 
day as he walked about his house. 

At first he seemed to lose nothing. "It 
makes no difference," he said. "I can see iust 
as well as ever, and my appetite keeps up." 
But there were two things which he had not 
reckoned with. First, that Mr. Blackman had 
lied to him. He knew that it would be im- 
possible to take away just one ten-thousandth 
part of his appetite, eyesight and hearing, and 
no more. He knew that each time one parts 



RANDOM TALKS 6 



j 



with his eyesight it goes faster next time. So, 
while Mr. Martin thought he was losing only 
one ten-thousandth part each week, by the end 
of two or three years he was losing much more, 
so that by the end of five years he was one- 
tenth deaf and blind, and had lost one-tenth of 
his taste. In fact, he began to suspect there 
was something wrong. But it was all done so 
gradually, and all the reasons that come to 
people, such as "a dark morning," or "a dark 
room," or "do not speak distinctly" came to 
him, and he persuaded himself that he could 
hear and speak and enjoy a meal as well as 
ever. So he renewed the contract for another 
five years. At the end of the tenth year he 
concluded that it was time to break the bar- 
gain. But two things stood in the way. He 
had now formed the habit of ten years' stand- 
ing. It was impossible to think of life without 
the weekly visits of Mr. Blackman's wagon. 
Besides, he had come to depend on that 
wagon for his daily living, and no other way 
was open. He couldn't get along without it. 
A contract for ten years was signed. Each 
year he found himself in the power of Mr. 
Blackman — who, if the truth is told, actually 
lives oh the bodies and souls of men. Many 
times Mr. Martin has vigorously [resolved to 



64 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

break the contract, but as the day of the wagon 
rolls around, he looks out with the passion 
of long habit for its coming. He feels help- 
less and often wishes that he had never made 
the foolish bargain. Of late years he has sent 
in no orders for pictures or musical instru- 
ments, for he can scarcely hear or see. And 
instead of a wagon, Mr. Blackman sends the 
provisions in a basket, for with appetite nearly 
gone Mr. Martin has little need of food. The 
once abundant life has all been spent. What 
is a house full of food and art and music to a 
man who cannot see, nor hear, nor enjoy? As 
you may chance to walk down Worldly Avenue 
remember Mr. Martin's queer bargain. Never 
live on that avenue. You will notice if you 
pull away the vines that on the stone gate- 
post some one has cut these words: "What will 
it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose 
his own UfeV * 

VI 
THE LAKE OF GIVE 

I should like to tell you the story of what I 
saw while wandering through the world. I 
shall tell the story in three chapters, because 
there are three parts to it. 



RANDOM TALKS 65 



Once on a twne while walking out in the 
world I met a boy about sixteen years old, who 
said that if I would come with him he would 
show me a wonderful view. He led me over 
the brow of a hill, when there came before my 
eyes a beautiful landscape. The name of the 
boy was Innocence, and he began to point out 
the various objects in sight. There was a little 
lake that looked like a meadow of glass, and 
all about it except at one point were sloping 
hills, on whose sides were villages and fields 
of waving grain and smiling orchards. Bird- 
like sailboats could be seen on the water, and 
the merry laughter of children and the singing 
of birds came floating up to my ears. The 
lake was fed by hundreds of streams that broke 
out of the hill-springs. At the point where 
there was a break in the hills a larger stream 
or river could be seen starting for its winding 
journey across a fertile plain. As far as I 
could see were villages and towns, and up the 
valley came the hum of industry. I thought 
it was one of the most beautiful landscapes I 
had ever seen, and was not surprised when 
Innocence said it was called the Garden of 
Eden. He also said that the lake was called 



66 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

the Lake of Give, and the valley along the river 
was called the Vale of Happiness. While I 
was there the sky was filling with rain clouds 
and I could see showers coming up the valley 
and falling on the hillsides. The little streams 
began to grow and send their waters into the 
lake, while the river grew larger as it wended 
its way through the plain. I looked at the 
bright, clear-eyed, open-hearted boy and 
thought surely no place on earth can be more 
beautiful. 



II 

Many years afterward I came to the same hill 
of observation. At this time I found a man 
about forty years old. His name was Selfish- 
ness. I saw at once that a dreadful change 
had come over the landscape. The lake had 
almost disappeared and looked no larger than 
a river. The hillsides were stripped of their 
orchards and villages, and little streams no 
longer chased each other down the slopes. 
The sky was cloudless and leaden. I could 
see no children, and hear no birds. Scattered 
here and there were a few buildings. The 
long stretch of plain, where once ran the river, 
looked more like a sandy desert than the beau- 



RANDOM TALKS 67 

tiful Valley of Happiness. Instead of flocks 
and herds I now could see jackals and wolves 
hurrying from one bush to another. I turned 
to Selfishness and exclaimed, "How did this 
dreadful change come to pass?" I noticed 
that he was a stern, sneering man, with a hard 
face and that he wore colored glasses over 
weak eyes. "What change? I own nearly the 
whole valley. My house there has all I want. 
The country has had some hard luck I admit. 
There has not been much rain of late, and the 
lake has almost gone. But this is good enough 
for me, and I'm not worrying." Once I 
thought I caught a resemblance to the beautiful 
boy, but he was so hard and rough that I could 
not think it possible. 

in 

Many years afterward, passing that way I 
turned again to see what had become of the 
Lake of Give and the Vale of Happiness. At 
this time I found an old man with long gray 
locks who was compelled to lean upon his staff 
as he stood. His name was Wisdom. I was 
pleasantly surprised to find the landscape look- 
ing about as I had first seen it. To be sure it 
was not quite so fresh and inviting, but the 



68 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

lake was high, the hills were covered with har- 
vest fields, birds sang on the hills, children 
laughed and played along the lake shores and 
as far as I could see the Vale of Happiness was 
filled with homes and villages, and all about me 
little streams rushed out of the hillsides to be 
lost in the lake below. I turned to the old 
man named Wisdom and asked him to tell me 
how the valley, once so beautiful, had become 
so barren and dreadful, and then had been 
changed back again to its present loveliness. 
He gently smiled — and then I saw it was the 
same smile worn by Innocence years before — 
and I knew he could tell me. "This is the 
way these great changes came about: When I 
was a young man — how foolish I was — I 
thought that I would dam up the Lake of 
Give, at that point where you see the outlet. 
I owned the lake and I said 'What is the use of 
my giving away all this water for nothing?' 
Instead, I will keep it all, and stop up that big 
leakage. So I built a high dam. The little 
streams on the hills kept pouring their waters 
into the lake, and I rubbed my hands with 
satisfaction as I saw the lake getting fuller. 
After I had dammed up the lake, however, the 
river below grew smaller and finally disap- 
peared. The grass died out, then the trees, 



RANDOM TALKS 69 

until at last all the people, with their horses 
and cattle moved away, and the green Vale of 
Happiness was turned into a desert. Still, I 
was satisfied, for was not my lake getting fuller 
each day? Then something strange occurred. 
The little streams became smaller and one by 
one began to disappear. The lake stopped 
getting larger and then began to recede. 
Finally, it became so small that I became 
frightened. The stagnant water began to 
smell, the fish began to die, and my cattle and 
horses sickened and died. The reason for it, 
as I afterward learned, was that the rain clouds 
that used to come up the valley and drop their 
showers on the hills ceased coming; for there 
were no trees and grass down there to produce 
them. One day, when almost in despair, I 
turned to a Book, which I remember my father 
used to call the "Book of Life," and I read, 
"Whosoever would save his life shall lose it," 
and in another place, "The liberal soul shall 
be made fat." These words started me to think- 
ing. Things can't be much worse. Perhaps 
now it is too late. I concluded, however, to 
try. I went down to the dam, and had an 
opening made, not large — but through it the 
water began to run. It scared me at first, for I 
thought it would all run away, and I did not 



70 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

see where any more could come from. But 
the water went down through the plain, carry- 
ing life in its drops. Next morning I could 
see a little cloud in the sky — something I had 
not seen for weeks. Still the waters of Lake 
Give ran off. Next morning a larger cloud 
floated up the valley, and I almost cried when 
I saw a few rain-drops fall out of the sky. 
That was the beginning. As the water went 
out more came back in the clouds. The little 
streams, one by one, reappeared, the grass 
sprang up, the trees found food for their roots, 
and after many years the Valley of Happiness 
is again filled with happy homes. 



VII 

THE STORY OF A PLUGGED 
QUARTER 

About ten years ago there came out of the 
United States mint in Philadelphia a bright 
and shining silver quarter. If I were speaking 
of a boy or girl I should say that the quarter 
was born in Philadelphia in 1893. The way I 
know is that, unlike people, the quarter had 



RANDOM TALKS 71 

stamped on its breast the figures 1893. Money, 
you see, is unable to deceive people as to age, 
for there is the year stamped in bold figures. 

On one side of the quarter was also stamped 
the face of a beautiful woman — its mother per- 
haps — around whose face was a circle of thir- 
teen States, proving descent from colonial 
times, above whose head was the splendid 
motto, "In God we trust." If this motto had 
always been minded, there would be no trouble 
to tell. On the other side of the quarter was 
the picture of an eagle with widespread wings, 
grasping in one claw an olive branch, meaning- 
peace; and in the other thirteen arrows, mean- 
ing war. Above the eagle's head were also 
thirteen stars, and in its talons a streamer on 
which was written, e pluribus unum — "one from 
many" — and around the edges of the quarter 
were stamped the letters which spell "United 
States of America." 



The life of this bright faced quarter was a 
very happy one for nearly ten years. It was 
first sent with many others in a package out to 
Scranton, Pennsylvania, and put up on a broad 
shelf. After a little a long file of men, who had 
been working in the mines, came along and the 



72 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

quarter was given to one of these, who thrust 
it into his pocket and hurried home. At the 
supper table that night the miner drew out a 
handful of money and his little four-year-old 
girl saw the bright face of the quarter and 
made a grab for it. It made the little girl 
happy for half an hour, when, bed-time coming, 
the quarter was put back into the miner's 
pocket. On the next day the quarter was 
given to the butcher, who gave it to the doc- 
tor's wife. Within a few weeks the quarter 
had visited over a hundred homes in Scranton. 

So, for ten years the quarter traveled around 
the world. It would be impossible to tell all 
of its experiences. It saw all kinds of life. It 
crossed the ocean in the pocket of an Ameri- 
can who said he wanted to take a little "good 
American money" with him. It found its way 
out to Manila in the pocket of a soldier. It 
was given by a rich lady to a poor boy. It 
even got into the White House. 

One thing was noticeable in all its wander- 
ings, everyone was glad to see this quarter. 
At first its face was so bright and shiny that 
everyone looked as it came around. After that 
it was so "good and reliable" that people put 
out their hands when it came near and said 
"welcome." You will readily see that the 



RANDOM TALKS 73 

quarter had a pleasant life, since everyone was 
glad to have it around. 

11 

But one day a great change occurred with 
sad results. A wicked man took the quarter 
and punched a small hole in it, which he pro- 
ceeded to fill up with base metal. He did the 
same with a great many silver coins, filling up 
the holes with base metal. He then started 
the quarter on its way, handing it in at the 
grocery store. After this no one was glad to 
see the quarter. Wherever it went, into barber 
shops, into saloons, on the street cars — there 
was not a place where anyone was glad to see 
it. Just as soon as it appeared people said 
"No, we don't want it," or if they happened to 
get it, they would pass it on as quickly as pos- 
sible. 

in 

One day a young man attending church 
thought he would get rid of it by putting it in 
the contribution box. He laughed in his 
sleeve as he did it — not knowing that some 
one saw him. When the treasurer saw the 
quarter, and let it fall on his desk to hear the 
jingle, he put it aside. He had some others 



74 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

like it. He then took them all and they were 
sent to Philadelphia, and put in the mint and 
on New Year's Day came out bright and shiny 
as ever — when everyone was glad again to see 
them. 

This is the end of the story of the plugged 
quarter whom no one was glad to see; but it is 
exactly the story of some boys and girls I have 
known. How bright and happy they were at 
first! Everyone smiled when they came 
around. Everyone was glad to see them. 
But some of their goodness was taken out, and 
in its place was put some base metal, a scold, 
a whine, a lie, or a bad temper. They were 
like the plugged quarter — they did not have 
the right ring. Whenever they appeared 
people sighed, and when they were gone 
people were glad. 

I will tell you about one girl I knew. She 
had a mixture of "lie" in her. One day she 
saw that it was spoiling her life, that she was 
hardly worth anything. So she went back to 
her Maker — her Heaveniy Father — and said 
she wanted to be made over. He took th? 
base metal out of her, recast her, and she came 
out with a new heart and a happy face. 
Ever since, everyone has been glad to sef 
her. 



RANDOM TALKS 75 

VIII 

THE THREE SISTERS— ANIMA, 
SOPHIA, ANGELICA 

I wish to tell you to-day about three sisters 
who lived together until death separated them. 
Their names were Anima, Sophia and Angelica. 
They had a very wise godmother whose first 
name was Eva, after the name of Eve which 
means life, and as she comes into the story 
I should like to have the mothers listen as well 
as the boys and girls. Anima was the eldest, 
and was five years older than Sophia, and 
Sophia was seven years older than Angelica. 

I will tell you first about Anima, who lived 
quite alone before Sophia was born, and who 
at the time of Sophia's birth was a romping 
girl of five. Her mother gave her every atten- 
tion, although the most that she needed was 
plenty of fresh air and plenty of good things 
to eat. The name given to her was suggested 
for her by her abundance of life, since Anima 
means "life." Her mother would often throw 
her up in the air and call her a "little duck," 
or a "little goose," or, when she would eat 
and eat would call her a "little pig," and 
sometimes so full of pranks was she that she 
was called "little monkey," and when she was 



76 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

very affectionate and threw her arms around 
her mother she was called a "little bear," and 
when she was lying asleep her mother whis- 
pered something about the "little lamb." So, 
in reality the name Anima fitted her very 
well. Her good mother looked after her every 
want. She never went hungry. The cupboard 
was kept filled. The coal bin was filled in the 
fall. The furnace was overhauled the winter 
after she was born. To be sure, the grocery 
bills ran up, but mother said, with a happy 
face, "Better pay the baker than the doctor." 
Her sleeping habits were looked after. When 
the afternoon was pleasant, Baby Anima was 
taken out for an airing, and later she was sent 
out to play. Whenever a cough appeared the 
mother attacked it and drove it out of the 
house. She bought books, attended mothers' 
meetings, kindergarten conventions, read Mrs. 
Rorer's talks in the Ladies' Journal, chose the 
softest flannels, tried to get the purest milk, 
gave in fact the best portion of her life and 
thought to her little girl, Anima. The result 
was that at five Anima was a happy, healthy, 
play-loving girl. 

When Anima heard that Sophia was born, 
about this time, she was at first very happy to 
think that she would have a little sister to play 



RANDOM TALKS 77 

with. But Sophia was so different that it was 
some time before she could like her. She had 
been the only child for so long that it was not 
easy to share things, to have mother divide 
her love and presents between her and the 
big-eyed baby. Sophia was much quieter than 
Anima. She early took a liking for books. 
Her great eyes seemed to be full of questions, 
and at times a flash of intelligence would light 
up her whole face. No one ever heard her 
mother call her "little pig" or "little lamb," 
as she had Anima, but it was "big eyes" and 
"old wisdom," or she would look down into 
the wondering eyes and ask after the manner 
of Holland, "Who can tell what a baby thinks?" 
Sophia was quite a different girl from 
Anima. Her mother said that she was well 
named, for Sophia means "wisdom and intelli- 
gence." It was some time before the two sis- 
ters could get along together, and before the 
mother knew just how to train Sophia. The 
mother quickly found out that she could not 
thrive on the same things that Anima had. 
So, what does she do but inquire of her best 
friends how it was best to bring her up. She 
talked with kindergartners and music teach- 
ers and other teachers. She had her plans to 
give Sophia the best training that money and 



78 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

pains could afford. So, while the little girl 
was frail at first she soon began to grow and 
thrive. She began to be called the "knowl- 
edge-box" of the family. Sophia and Anima 
also became the closest companions. Sophia 
did not like to play very well, nor did Anima 
like the school-room, but to please each other 
they would always go together. Anima was 
proud of her smaller sister, and Sophia was 
always glad when her sister was near her. It 
was a very happy family. Anima and Sophia 
used to put their arms around their good 
mother and say, "The family is just perfect 
now." "The children are so different," the 
mother said. "I have had to treat each child 
as if she were born in another land. I never 
could have raised Sophia if I had given her the 
same treatment I had given Anima. Both 
have required watchful care." 

When Angelica was born no one was very 
glad to see her. Anima was much afraid that 
the little sister would get Sophia away from her, 
while Sophia knew that she would never like 
anyone as well as Anima. Both the girls threw 
their arms around each other and declared that 
they would have nothing to do with her. 
Anima felt the worse, and said that she knew 
that the newcomer would spoil all her good 



RANDOM TALKS 79 

times. It looked for quite a time as though the 
little one would not stay very long anyway. 
She was so frail and weak, and looked as 
though she was not born for this world. She 
had beautiful blue eyes which shone with a 
far-off look, but her little body was weak and 
her life seemed to hang on a thread for a long 
time. Her sisters sometimes wished that an 
angel would come and fly off with her. But 
Angelica stayed and yet continued to be frail. 
The poor mother did not know what to do. 
She loved the little one. She was not like those 
mothers who neglect their higher duties for 
lower interests. She was deeply perplexed. 
At last it came to her that Angelica's nature was 
quite different from her two sisters', that 
while plenty of things to eat made Anima and 
Sophia happy, Angelica seemed to want some- 
thing more. She prayed that God would save 
the life of her child, and teach her how to rear 
her right. Still the little life languished, and 
the mother was often seen to shake her head in 
grief. She had often noticed that her two 
daughters had shown little sympathy for 
Angelica. They had gone on their way with 
their good times and studies as though no 
Angelica was in the house, and now it was 
seven years since the time of her birth. 



80 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

Now comes the strange part of the story. 
One day the little girl lay upon the couch look- 
ing up at the great cloud-piles in the sky, when 
Anima and Sophia came into the room. 
Sophia was the first to speak. "Sister 
Angelica," she said, "we have come to ask 
you to join us. There seems to be something 
wanting in our life, and we think that it is 
because we have not done right. We have 
lacked love in our hearts. But now we are 
going to turn over a new leaf — aren't we, 
Anima? — and live, not to have a good time 
only nor to be wise, but to do right as well. We 
want you to hurry up and get well and grow, 
and we'll be just the best sisters that we know 
how." Saying that, they both knelt down 
beside the couch and gave Angelica a kiss of 
love. It was a happy mother that came into 
the room. She saw the bright look on 
Angelica's face, and knew at once what she 
had wanted all the time, and knew, too, that 
she would live and grow. She came up to the 
three daughters and said, "I once thought that 
with Anima and Sophia our life was complete, 
and you remember then I called ours the 
'happy family'; this is far better, and it looks 
almost like a 'Holy Family,' for don't you 
really think that Christ is in our midst?" 



RANDOM TALKS 81 

For many years the sisters lived together. 
Angelica grew stronger and sweeter each year. 
Instead of disturbing the good times of Anima 
and Sophia she bound them by her loving, un- 
selfish ways closer together. By and by she 
even became stronger than Anima and wiser 
than Sophia. They passed their fiftieth, sixtieth 
and seventieth birthdays. Anima began to lose 
her hearing and eyesight and to get feeble, 
and many a day didAngelica's strong arm sus- 
tain her faltering courage. Sophia came to be 
known as very wise, but in her old age she 
acknowledged that the wisest of mankind could 
know little, and when Angelica spoke of faith 
and love she said, "Yes, Angelica, yours after 
all is the only true wisdom." When death 
came and separated them it was Angelica's 
strong faith and loving wisdom that sustained 
them to the end. 

My meaning may not be plain to all. It is 
this: Every life is the birth of these three, 
Anima, the physical; Sophia, the intellectual; 
Angelica, the spiritual. Care for them all 
faithfully, but above all, do not neglect the 
spiritual. That is the part of us that is im- 
mortal, that will be our stay in times of trouble, 
that will live on with increasing strength when 
the rest of us dies. 



MAKING THE LIFE I 
MUST LIVE THE 
LIFE I OUGHT TO LIVE 

Born for a Crown 

The Serpent E?iters — Sin 

A Life-Saver — Christ 

Putting on the Uniform — Repentance 

True Blue — Confession 

Rome Not Built in a Day — Growth 

What Is It All For— Character 

The Master-key — Prayer 

Chart to the Ocea?i — Bible 

A Mountain Mover — Faith 

An Unused Cistern — Giving 

An Unplanted Seed— Service 

All in a Nutshell — Love 

From Chrysalis to Butterfly 



83 



MAKING THE LIFE I 
MUST LIVE THE LIFE 
I OUGHT TO LIVE 

i 

BORN FOR A CROWN 

Hold fast . . . that no man take thy crown.— 
Rev. j: ii. 

In the heart of the city of London on the 
north bank of the Thames is a large stone 
building called the Tower. Kings and queens 
once lived there. Afterward it was turned into 
a prison. Now it is a national museum where 
are kept old-fashioned armor, swords, spears, 
etc. There is one strong room, called the 
crown-jewels' room. Not more than one 
hundred people can crowd into it. In the 
center of this room is a large iron cage. 
Around this cage big policemen are constantly 
walking and watching, for inside the cage are 
precious gems and crowns. The crowns that 
the various kings and queens and princes have 
worn are there. At the jubilee celebration of 



86 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

Victoria the crown that she wore as a girl was 
brought out, and in Westminster Abbey was 
again put upon her head. 

Those crowns in London Tower are only for 
a few people, but every boy and girl is born 
for a crown. Those crowns in the London 
Tower are very valuable and are studded with 
precious jewels, but far more precious than 
diamonds and rubies are the crowns that God 
has in keeping for all His boys and girls. 
Money cannot buy them. Men cannot make 
them. Only God is rich enough and great 
enough to furnish them. 

The best word I can bring to you, boys and 
girls, is to tell you that you are all born princes 
and princesses. The world is your royal resi- 
dence. You are the head of creation. It 
hardly seems possible that the tiny baby in the 
pink trimmed basket was born to rule. Why 
if a bit of plastering falls from the wall it 
breaks an arm. If the dog barks he is scared 
and cries like — a baby. A bear could easily 
run off with him and devour him. A bucket 
of water could drown him. At one year of age 
there is no creature on the earth so weak and 
helpless. Yet the prince or princess grows, 
and one day he puts all things under his feet, 
"all sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field, the 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 87 

fowls of the air and the fish of the sea." This 
weak creature has become king. 

Men will come along and tell you that they 
own this piece of land, this house, this lake, 
this yard with green lawn and flowers, this 
horse and carriage. Not at all. Do not 
believe them. They are yours — yours to 
enjoy. Everything that your neighbor has is 
yours. You may not put out your hand and 
take it, but the whole earth is yours to look at 
and to enjoy. Some people may get a few 
things together and put up a sign "Hands off, 
these are mine!'* Laugh at them! You can 
get along without their beggarly things. What 
does a child of a king care for these things 
when he is surfeited with the riches of God? 

I'd rather laugh, a bright-haired boy, 
Than reign a gray- beard king. 

Boys and girls, you are princes and prin- 
cesses! How do I know? I will tell you. 
Bring one of these boys up and let me look at 
him. Ah, I see he has a stomach. Turn 
around a basket of nuts, raisins, oranges, 
cakes; fill him up. Some one whispers he is 
all stomach. It is false, but fill him up. 
Have you satisfied him? Is that all he is — 
what some short-sighted men affirm — just 



88 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

stomach? No, he has an appetite for some- 
thing higher. He is a man-child, not a brute. 
Look at him again. Ah! he has a pocket. 
Fill it full of money. Deepen his pockets; 
fill them full. Some one whispers he worships 
the almighty dollar. It is false, but fill his 
pockets. Is this all he is — a money bag? No, 
he is aware of other riches that last. He hears 
the voice of God. Look at him again. He 
has ears made for sweet harmonies. He has 
eyes made for beautiful colorage. He has a 
brain with capacities of memory and creation. 
Satisfy these all to the full, yet the boy cries 
for something else. He is a God-child, and in 
all his wanderings in the desert he cries for 
God. He is a soul. He is an immortal. 
And nothing satisfies this boy, this girl, but to 
be filled with God. That is why I know you 
are born of God, because you cry and cry like 
a lamb crying for his mother until you find 
God. 

It is wonderful. But there are crowns await- 
ing you when you claim and earn them. I 
may whisper a secret to you. There is no 
crown without the cross, without effort, and 
toil and sacrifice. Remember, however, only 
this one thing here — you are born for a crown 
compared with which the crowns in London 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 89 

Tower are mere baubles. Keep the crown in 
view. Men will tell you, as you go along life's 
road, that the chief thing in life is to eat, to 
drink, to make money, to have pleasure, to 
gain knowledge — that for these things you 
were born. It is false. The chief thing in life 
is to live like a prince of God. The greatest 
ambition you can have is to do your Father's 
business. The sweetest words you can ever 
hear are these, "This is my beloved son." 
"Hold fast . . that no man take thy crown." 



II 

THE SERPENT ENTERS— SIN 

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled 
Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted. — 
2 Cor. 11: j. 

I said in the last chapter that everyone is 
born for a crown, that everybody is a prince or 
a princess. When you are born God puts you 
into a beautiful place, a paradise, which we 
call the "world." There is all manner of 
good things, — which mean "God-things" — to 
eat and to wear and to enjoy. The crown is 
not given to you at first. To gain it there is 



90 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

something to do — to obey, i.e., to do what God 
asks of you. 

Do you remember the story of Adam and 
Eve? That story is repeated in every child's 
life. They were put in a beautiful garden. 
All the good things about them were theirs to 
enjoy. There was only one rule, they must 
obey God. There was one tree in the Garden 
of Eden of which God said they must not eat — 
the tree of good and evil. This means that to 
disobey God is to know good and evil. Up to 
that time they had only known good, but the 
moment they disobeyed God they began to 
know good and evil. How did it happen? Do 
you not remember? A serpent entered the 
beautiful garden and tempted them to disobey. 
They were promised that they would be inde- 
pendent and free and would come to know as 
much as God. He lied to them. For their 
disobedience God put them out of the Garden 
of Eden. 

Do you know that this story was repeated in 
my life, in the life of everyone? You are born 
into a beautiful paradise. All that is required 
of you is to obey. But very soon after you 
begin to walk about your Garden of Eden the 
serpent enters. What, a real serpent? No, 
not a real serpent, but a snaky evil that tries to 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 91 

turn you out of your paradise. This is his one 
object: he tries in every way to turn you out 
of your garden — that must be the heart, don't 
you think? — and once getting you out he does 
his best to keep you out. 

Would you like to know how he goes at it? 
Listen, and I will tell you. He looks around 
and finds something that God has told you not 
to do. This may be any one of a thousand 
things, lying, idleness, stealing, hatred, jeal- 
ousy. God may have told you to study, to stop 
teasing brother, to play fair at the games, to 
run quickly on mother's errands, to stop pout- 
ing. You know what I mean. Along comes 
the tempter, and he says it will do no harm to 
disobey God. 

Another name for the serpent is "sin"; 
sometimes it is called "selfishness." The 
serpent is whatever keeps us from obeying God. 
Now the serious thing about it all is this, it 
injures and finally kills all the good things of 
life. Sin like a serpent has a sting, and this 
sting poisons, and by and by it destroys. The 
thief gets into prison. The miser's heart gets 
hard. Sin drives us out of our beautiful world, 
and sometimes — many have said so — turns our 
world into a hell. 

There is only one thing you need to fear in 



92 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

this life. It is the serpent. You do not need 
to fear dogs and other boys; you do not need 
to fear your teachers, nor robbers, nor poverty, 
nor ghosts, nor sickness, nor death. A brave 
man or woman fears only one thing, to disobey 
God. 

Nothing will be able to harm you except the 
serpent. So look out for him. Watch for his 
tracks. Don't waste your time discussing why 
he comes; only know that he is crawling 
around anxious to tempt you in your weakest 
place. 

There is also only one thing you need to do, 
viz., to obey. Life is really reduced to a very 
simple thing, obedience. To the obedient life is 
always good and God's blessings increase and 
descend in showers. 

Only one thing to fear, viz., to disobey God. 

Only one thing to do, viz., to obey God. 



Ill 

A LIFE-SAVER— CHRIST 

He shall save his people from their sins. — Matt, i: a. 

It is not an easy thing to be a good ball- 
player, or cook, or scholar, or musician, or 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 93 

painter, or lawyer, or doctor, or to be good at 
anything. It costs time and effort and brains 
and purpose — and they are the most valuable 
things we have. 

To live a good life, we should not, therefore, 
expect to be an easy task. We must spend 
more thought and energy and purpose in 
accomplishing this, than in doing anything 
else. To live a good life is far better than to 
be rich or famous. 

To succeed in anything good — to be a ball- 
player, painter, musician, lawyer, doctor — 
everyone needs a savior, i.e., some one to 
guide him, to teach him, to point out errors, 
to inspire him to effort, to encourage him in 
his discouragements. Now, Jesus Christ is 
the great Saviour. Mary, His mother, was 
instructed to call her babe ' 'Jesus, for it is he that 
shall save his people from their sins. ' ' 

The need of a savior is not confined to 
those who are trying to be good, but our life 
from beginning to end is guarded by saviors. 
We are no sooner born than we are waited upon 
by several people who are there to save our 
lives. How often and how much a mother 
saves her children! They couldn't possibly 
get through without mother, and father, and 
brother, and chum, and teacher, and physi- 



94 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

cian. We accept salvation from the very day 
we are born. We are guarded day and night 
by saviors who beat off the enemies of our 
bodies and minds and souls. 

The need of a savior is nothing new. The 
way to get along is to accept .these saviors 
who are stronger and wiser than we are, and 
every sensible man does. 

Why should it then be strange to speak of 
Christ, the great Life-Saviour? Why should 
you shrink back and hesitate to accept His 
kind and loving offices, especially when you 
have so much need of Him? He is the great 
Saviour because He beats off the enemies that 
attack and would destroy the most precious 
part of our life — our souls, since if a man loses 
his soul he loses everything. Sin is really the 
only thing to fear in life; and Christ saves us 
from sin. 

What are some of the names by which 
Christ is known? If you will run over the list 
you will see more clearly how He saves us. 

He calls Himself a "Friend." What should 
we do without friends, — friends at school, at 
college, in business, in play? What a great 
help an earnest true friend is, encouraging, 
inspiring, defending, saving us from despair 
and error and disaster. Alas, life is poor 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 95 

without friendship. Christ is a Friend! Who- 
ever takes Him as a friend, and returns His 
confidence will find himself growing nobler 
every day. 

Christ is also called "Teacher." What 
should we do without teachers? Not one of us 
but what owes a great deal to his teachers. 
They train us how to defend ourselves, how 
to use our powers. Life would be wretchedly 
poor without teachers. He is the great 
Teacher, because He teaches us how to use 
our highest powers, who our enemies are, how 
to defend ourselves. What a savior our 
teacher is! 

Christ is called "Physician." How much 
we owe to them who save our bodies from the 
insidious attacks of disease! The knowledge 
that physicians have gained by observation 
and study, by their skill and watchfulness has 
saved us a thousand times. He is the great 
Physician, because He cures the soul. Who- 
ever obeys His rules of exercise, of diet — of 
life, — will not die. The sad and strange thing 
is that multitudes are dying and will not accept 
the offices of the great Physician. 

A savior is nothing new. You are in need 
of the help of saviors every hour you live. 
You cannot get along without friends, or 



96 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

teachers, or physicians, or neighbors. They 
save your life every day. Jesus is a "Friend," 
a "Physician," a "Teacher," and a great deal 
more. He has come to save. While the ser- 
pent, like disease and ignorance, enters to 
destroy your life, He is a Life-Saver. That is 
His work. 

You ought to love Him. You love your 
friend, your teacher, your physician, because 
they do so much for you. Christ will do a 
thousand times more. He saves the soul, the 
heart of life, the crown of life. To be rich or 
healthy or wise amounts to very little unless 
the soul is saved. ' ' What does it profit a man if 
he gai?i the whole world a?id lose his soulf * 

Do you remember how you show your love 
to your teacher — flowers, presents, valen- 
tines? You go a long distance to walk with 
her. And your friend — costly gifts, letters, 
confidences. How you will rush to see your 
friend! Physician — he has stood by your bed- 
side, cheerfully encouraged you, and cured you 
of some disease, or set a broken bone, or re- 
stored your sight or hearing — no wonder you 
talk about him. I want you to love Jesus Christ 
in this way, who is doing a hundred times 
more. He is the great Saviour of life— life 
eternal. 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 97 

How we cheer the brave man who swims out 
through waves — at the risk of his life — to save 
a drowning man! Off with your hats, boys, 
up with your voices, girls, when the name of 
Jesus is heard — the Saviour of men. 



IV 

PUTTING ON THE UNIFORM- 
REPENTANCE 

At that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, 
Repent. — Matt. 4; ij. 

I wish to tell you some things about the 
Christian life. To-day it is Putting on the 
Uniform — Repentance, 

To enter the Christian life is a little like 
entering the army. Christ is our Captain. 
The banner of the cross is our flag. There are 
battles to be fought against the hosts of evil. 
Every Christian is a soldier who promises to 
obey Christ and to put on His uniform. 

As soon as a boy or young man is taken into 
the army of the United States he must put on 
the uniform, A young man I know is down in 
the Philippines as a soldier, and to-day he is 
going about his cjuties wearing the uniform r If 



98 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

he refused to wear the uniform he would be 
immediately discharged. Every soldier on 
entering the army must put on the uniform. 

When a soldier is guilty of misconduct or 
treason the worst punishment that can be in- 
flicted is to strip him of his uniform and drum 
him out of the camp. Many of them would 
rather die than be disgraced thus. 

To enter into Christ's service one must put 
on the uniform. What is His uniform? Brass 
buttons? Blue coat? A sword? No. Let us 
listen to what Jesus said. He raised His voice 
to all people and said, "Repent." "Put on 
repentance." This is the uniform His soldiers 
put on. 

I will do my best to tell you what repentance 
means — it is so important. 

I. It means, first, that you must take off the 
rags you have been wearing. "What! Rags?" 
you say. "Yes, rags!" But you say, "Our 
clothes are nearly new, not a patch on them. 
They are of the very best material and of the 
latest style. You must be mistaken, Mr. 
Strong." "No, I am certain that some of 
you, if not all, are wearing rags, and the first 
thing you must do to enter Christ's service is 
to take them off." 

"But rags?" "Yes, rags." Some time ago — 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 99 

was it last week — you cheated in school; or 
was it in the game of crokinole or authors, 
that you were playing — anyway you cheated. 
Last week you told a story, — I think I must 
call it a lie — when mother asked you if you 
came straight home from school. The week 
before, you disobeyed your father, — do you re- 
member? He does not know it, but you do. 
Do you remember, too, those bad words you 
said? The grown-up people did not hear them, 
but God did, and your playmates did, and you 
did. Last week you were very selfish, you 
slammed the door when you couldn't have 
your own way. You have a violent temper. 
Once you kicked the floor and screamed. 
Shall I go on? I could tell a great many more 
bad things you have done. These are all rags, 
filthy rags, that you are wearing around. They 
make you look ugly. The first thing that 
Christ asks is that you take off these rags. 
This is the first step in repentance, to put off 
the rags. 

2. Repentance means that you will put on 
the beautiful clothes that Christ gives. Just 
as soon as you are willing to do this you may 
be a soldier of Christ. He has beautiful 
white garments of purity. He has warm soft 
garments of love. He will give you a shield 
LofC. 



ioo TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

of righteousness and a sword of prayer and a 
cap of safety. Repentance is not only putting 
off your rags, it is also putting on the beauti- 
ful and splendid uniform of the Christian life. 

Suppose I should stand in Garfield Park this 
afternoon and say to one thousand ragged boys 
and girls, "Repent, repent! I mean, take off 
those rags, and here are one thousand beautiful 
suits, put these on." What a scramble there 
would be! 

just so, Christ lifts up His voice to the boys 
and girls of the world, "some in rags, and 
some in tags and some in velvet gowns," and 
He speaks the sweetest word, "Repent, re- 
pent!" He means "Put off all the dirty, ugly 
rags you have been wearing, all your bad 
habits — and then put on these robes of right- 
eousness that I give you. You may then be 
My soldiers. Putting on My uniform, you will 
then begin to be a Christian, to enter My 
service." 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 101 



TRUE BLUE— CONFESSION 

Whosoever confesseth me before men, the same will I 
confess before my Father in heaven. — Matt, 10:32. 

Do you know what "true blue" means? 
Over two hundred years ago in Scotland there 
were two parties, one called the Royalists, the 
other the Covenanters. Each party, just as 
college and high school classes now have, had 
a color by which it was known. The Royalists 
had red; the Covenanters had blue. When a 
Covenanter stood for his principles in all 
kinds of weather, perplexities, and trial, he was 
said to be "true blue." 

Let me tell you the difference between re- 
pentance and confession. Here are two sol- 
diers, both have offered their lives to protect 
their country, and beat off her foes. One is 
twenty years old. He has just enlisted. His 
uniform is new. He is entering the service. 
Brave, fine fellow, the making of a splendid 
soldier! The other is forty. He has been 
fighting for his country for twenty years. In 
cold and heat, by day and night, around the 
camp-fire and on the battle-field, on picket 
duty, he has never been found wanting. 
Brave, tried, true, he is a veteran of the army! 



102 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

The young fellow stands for repentance. He 
has put off the citizen's clothes and put on the 
uniform. The veteran stands for confession. 
For years he has obeyed, been faithful, has 
kept his honor bright and his name untar- 
nished. 

It is the same in Christ's service. It is a 
fine sight to see a young volunteer step out 
from the multitude and swear allegiance to the 
new Master and King. He lays aside the rags 
he has worn and puts on the new uniform of 
Christ. Pardon him if he appears to be care- 
less and jaunty. He is making a splendid sol- 
dier. Twenty years, forty years pass, the 
volunteer has become a veteran. He has been 
tempted and tried. Many a battle-field has 
been won, and alas, has witnessed defeat. But 
he has rallied. He has followed his Master. 
He has been true to his purpose to do right 
and fight evil. His life is a confession of 
loyalty to Christ. 

What does "true blue" mean? 

I. Obey orders. The soldier disgraces his 
uniform who is disobedient. Repeated dis- 
obedience means at last humiliation, being 
stripped of his uniform and drummed out of 
the regiment. The soldier obeys. The wel- 
fare of the army and the country depends upon 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 103 

quick and cheerful obedience. What are the 
orders? Be pure in heart! Speak the truth! 
Forgive! Read the Book of orders. Where 
He commands, obey. 

2. Be loyal to the flag. That means in Christ's 
service, the banner of the cross. 

The Son of God goes forth to war 

A kingly crown to gain. 
His blood-red banner streams afar, — 

Who follows in His train? 

Men and boys gladly die for the flag, for it 
stands for freedom, equality and fraternity. 
But the banner of the cross stands for far 
more, — for righteousness and service for life! 
The loyal soldier will die for the cross. His 
weapons are love and sacrifice, but these are 
great and powerful. His battles are often 
alone, with himself, but they tell for God and 
humanity. 

You will not find it easy, but God is looking 
on. He is on every battle-field. At the end 
when you come to Him as a veteran in the 
service, He will "confess you," i.e., tell the 
world that you are His loyal soldier. 



104 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

VI 

ROME NOT BUILT IN A DAY- 
GROWTH 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. — 
Matt. 6: 28. 

There is nothing more wonderful in the 
world than growth. It is more wonderful than 
Mechlin lace, or Japanese curios, or the Gar- 
den of Gods in Colorado, or the Geyser Springs 
in the Yellowstone Park. The Seven Won- 
ders of the world do not begin to match the 
simple growth of the flowers and birds and 
children around us. Jesus said that Solomon, 
in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of 
the lilies of the field. And He said, "Consider 
the lilies, how they grow." 

You take a small seed in your fingers and 
drop it in the ground in good soil and at the 
right season. In a few days the shell opens, 
and out creeps a tiny blade, which pushes its 
way up through the earth. It takes food and 
drink from the earth and air, and by and by 
after weeks of growing, there appears a beau- 
tiful lily. It is marvelous! Jesus tells us to 
consider it. 

The growth of a man from a baby boy is 
marvelous. Who ever would think that a baby 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 105 

could grow into a man — a baby with soft skin, 
soft bones, speechless, thoughtless, without 
memory, without future plans, without rea- 
soning powers, without knowlege of evil. Yet 
he becomes a Phillips Brooks or a Gladstone. 
Marvelous! Nothing more wonderful under 
the sun! 

Jesus says, "Consider the lilies, how they 
grow." What is it that makes this growth? 
Can the lilies tell us how things grow? Listen. 

1. The first thing they say is, you must plant 
a seed in which there is life. 

2. You must plant it at the right season; in the 
springtime \ when the ground is moist and soft. 

3. You must plant it in good ground. 

4. You must keep out the weeds and thorns. 

5. The plant must be zvatered and fed. 

6. Having done this, you must wait and let it 
grow. Rome was not built in a day, nor a 
man made in a minute, nor a lily grown in an 
hour. 

Jesus said it was the same about the Chris- 
tian life. The seed holding Christ-life must be 
planted. The heart cannot produce the Chris- 
tian life of itself. It must come from without. 
The heart can produce thorns and weeds, but 
not the divine life. That must be planted. 

It must be planted in the right season. It is 



106 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

possible to raise flowers by means of hot- 
houses at all seasons, but it is not the rule of 
Mother Nature. The springtime, or boyhood 
and girlhood, is the right time. The heart is 
soft and tender. Everything takes root at 
that season easily and naturally. 

It ought to be planted in good ground as far 
as possible. The soil cannot always be of the 
best, for sometimes the parents have been 
neglectful, and their children's hearts are poor 
like yellow clay. God forgive those parents 
whose legacy to their children is a lumpy, 
stony piece of ground! 

The life must be watered and fed. The 
most beautiful plant will soon perish if it does 
not draw life from without. The most beauti- 
ful Christian will suffer deeply without prayer 
and the sacred Scriptures. 

Having done this, be patient and let the life 
develop and the body grow. Be not anxious. 
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they 
grow." "Seek first the kingdom of God," i.e., 
be sure that Christ's life is abounding in your 
heart and mind and soul "and all things need- 
ful will be added unto you." 

Rome was not built in a day. I read 
recently of its beginning — how like a seed a 
little colony of people was planted on the 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 107 

banks of the river Tiber; how its life was often 
threatened, how it grew and grew; but it took 
six hundred years or more to make Rome- 
Rome that at last proudly sat on her seven hills 
and from her throne of beauty ruled the worlds 
Jesus grew in body and mind and soul. He 
was thirty years old before He was ready to go 
out into the world and do His life-work. Let 
this be remembered — the life of Christ must be 
planted early in the life, it must be daily 
watered and fed, but it will take years before 
it comes to the fullness of its glory, 



VII 
WHAT IS IT ALL FOR?— CHARACTER 

Until Christ be formed in you. — Gal. 4: ig. 
What is life all for? This is a question that 
will trouble you a great many times before you 
have finished with life. Let us try to settle it 
now, once for all. What is it all for? Birth, 
babyhood, boyhood, manhood, old age, death? 
Play, study, work, pain, sickness, sorrow, sacri- 
fices, joy, love, disappointment? I will tell 
you what I think — it is to produce in us a char- 
acter like Christ's. 



108 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

A character? What is a character? Charac- 
ter is something that is engraved, stamped, 
printed, formed. The letters of the alphabet 
are characters. They are fixed, engraved, and 
no one thinks of changing them. Life is to 
produce in us the character of Christ, so that 
He is formed and fixed in our lives, so that 
everything we touch or do will leave the marks 
of Christ. 

What is life for? Why all the discipline of 
the home and school? Why must I learn to 
obey, to control myself? What is the object 
of all the effort to be good and do good? 

There are three possible answers from which 
you may choose: 

i. Some say that life is for pleasure. Their 
motto is "Eat, drink and be merry; for to-mor- 
row we die." Their pleasure may be coarse or 
refined; it is all the same. They may be beer- 
drinking laborers or wine-drinking aristocrats, 
millionaires or paupers, farmers or princes. 
They say they mean to get out of life all the 
amusement and fun they can. I notice one 
thing about these people — they believe that a 
man should live for his body. If they are 
right, if our bodies are all we are, then their 
way is right. If you believe that you are only 
stomach and lungs and liver, then the highest 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 109 

thing that you can do is to eat and dance and 
play ball — to cultivate the animal. 

2. Some say that life is for power, that the 
highest thing one can do is to go to school, to 
cultivate his mind, so as to wield power over 
men. You see men who are denying them- 
selves in order to make money, to gain knowl- 
edge, to get position for the power these 
things will bring. I notice one thing about 
these people — they believe that the highest 
part of a man is his intellect; that the end of 
life is therefore to make the intellect keen and 
powerful. 

3. Others say that life is for immortality and 
God. A man is a body — but something more. 
A man is a body and an intellect — but some- 
thing more. A man is an immortal being. 
He has a stomach and a brain, but more, — a 
soul. When his body dies he goes on living. 
The object of life, they say, is not to have a 
strong body, nor a strong mind, but to gain 
spiritual power. 

Which is your choice? This depends entirely 
upon what you think yourself to be. Are you 
Body, or 

Body and intellect, or 
Body and intellect and soul? 
Think it over and decide. 



no TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

VIII 

THE MASTER-KEY— PRAYER 

A door was opened unto me. — 2 Cor. 2: 12. 

Prayer is the key that unlocks the doors to 
the unknown and unseen. Just as long as you 
live you will be surrounded by the unknown 
and unseen world; yes, until you burst through 
the gates of death and enter the gates of 
heaven. 

Life is a kind of opening and shutting of 
doors. To-morrow is unknown. You go 
through the door of to-day to reach to-morrow. 

There is a key which will open all the doors 
of the future as we come to them. It is a mas- 
ter-key. A master-key is a key that "masters," 
i.e., unlocks all the doors of the house. The 
master-key of life is "prayer." 

The right door to the future will always 
open if you use this master-key. 

Let us think of life as a kind of house 
which has many rooms and many doors. Your 
part is to enter one room, use it, put it in order 
and then move out to the next. All the time 
doors are opening in front of us and shutting 
behind us as we travel from childhood to old 
age. Or life is like the chambered nautilus 
and our wish should be 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 1 1 1 

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, 
As the swift seasons roll ! 
Leave thy low-vaulted past ! 

We should be moving on from one chamber 
to another, and each should be statelier than 
the last. 

Some day when you are from sixteen to 
twenty years old you will be sitting in a room, 
and you will feel a call to get up and enter the 
workshop of life. It is what is called choosing 
your occupation. What will you make of 
yourself? So much depends upon your choice. 
Let me tell you to enter the door that the mas- 
ter-key fits. You will never go wrong. 

There is one peculiarity about this key, you 
must usually get down on your knees before it 
will fit the lock. 

Some day you will be longing to go from the 
workshop to one of the side rooms over whose 
door is written "Pleasure." So much depends 
upon your choice. Use the master-key. The 
pleasure that prayer unlocks will always be 
sweet and wholesome. 

Some day you will be sitting in the room of 
sorrow. You will hang your head down 
between your knees in despair. You will be 
filled with doubt, and the room will begin to 
grow dark. Do not forget the master-key. 



ii2 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

You may have to grope around awhile before 
you find the door and the key-hole. But all 
at once you will come upon it, and the key 
will fit, the bolt will flash back and you will 
stand in the room of "Peace." 

Life will abound with problems and perplex- 
ities. You will pass through narrow places 
where a misstep will mean ruin. You will 
have many battles with many enemies, but with 
the master-key in your hand you need fear 
nothing. 

What wonderful power a little key has! I 
stand before a huge oak door, and I may shout, 
and kick, and pound, and batter away, and yet 
the door will remain shut. I take from my 
pocket a thin bit of steel and stooping down I 
insert it in a mere crack, and from a slight 
pressure of thumb and finger back flies the bolt 
and the great door turns on its hinges. What 
battering rams cannot do is done by the magic 
of a little key. But a master-key and the 
doors of life, which confront us and must be 
opened if we are to go on — how they swing 
open when the key fits the lock. The master- 
key of prayer needs to be ever ready, for great 
doors suddenly appear, and sad the lot of any- 
one who has lost the key. Pray, pray without 
ceasing — this is the sure way to get on. 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 113 

IX 

THE CHART TO THE OCEAN— THE 
BIBLE 

From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures.— 
a Tim. j: if. 

Life is like sailing from one port to another. 
It is not given to us to stay in the harbor, but 
everyone must put off to sea. If we could tie 
our crafts up to the docks and never start out 
into the ocean, there would be some excuse for 
taking our ease. But this is not given us to 
choose. The invisible hand takes us, and 
without our leave we find ourselves out of the 
harbor of childhood, on the mighty sea of life, 
covered with many crafts from many lands. 
Necessity drives us from one shore to another. 

Only one alternative is allowed, either to 
make a goodly harbor on the other side, or to 
go down on rocks or shoals or before the winds 
and waves. 

One thing is essential — a chart. Every wise 
captain wants it. He may have a compass 
and a log and a rudder and sails, but without 
a chart he must soon come to grief. 

Have you ever been up in the captain's 
room? Ask him to open the chart drawer. It 
is a map — a map of the sea. Every known 



ii4 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

rock is marked, all the shoals, every light- 
house. To this map the captain turns night 
and day. By it he knows where he is, where 
the dangers are, where the safe waters glide. 

But how is the Bible a chart? — a chart of the 
sea of life? 

I. There is marked down the harbor that 
every good ship wishes to make. How impor- 
tant this is! How careless the captain of an 
ocean steamer would become if he opened his 
instructions a few days out, and was told to 
make for nowhere! That is exactly the case 
when men do not use the Bible. It points out 
to the sailor of the seas that he is bound for 
heaven; that he is immortal, and was made 
to live for God and with God; that he is the 
child of a King who lives in the harbor whither 
he is going. Men will some day tell you that 
it makes no difference; to live for each day 
and this world and that the next one will take 
care of itself. Tell them "no" — the captain 
always wants to know "whither bound?" Our 
ocean chart — the Bible — has another shore. 
This is a great advantage. 

2. The Bible has also traced out several 
very safe routes from heaven to earth. 
There is the route taken by the patriarchs, 
Abraham, Moses, Joseph; and the route taken 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 115 

by the prophets; but best of all, the way made 
plain by Christ Jesus. 

3. The Bible also points out the rocks on 
which great ships have gone to pieces; the 
reefs where they have been stranded; the 
lighthouses of warning. 

Use it. 

Daily search it. 



A MOUNTAIN MOVER— FAITH 

Have faith in God. — Mark u: 22. 

Do you know what a lever is? It is a long 
iron bar or fence rail, which you use to put 
under a sidewalk or a boulder to pry them up. 
To use the lever you must have a fulcrum, i.e., 
some solid object, a stone or a piece of wood, 
on which you rest the lever. A wise man 
who lived ages ago once said that if he had a 
place to rest his fulcrum, i.e., something to 
rest his lever on, he could lift the world. God 
is the fulcrum. Faith is the lever. 

You have sometimes seen houses in the 
middle of the road being drawn from one 



n6 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

part of the town to another. Do you know 
how they lift them up and let them down — 
these great buildings? It is by little levers, 
jack-screws. There was once a time when the 
principal buildings in Chicago — like the Palmer 
House — had to be lifted up several feet. 
How was it done? By putting hundreds of 
jack-screws under them, when little by little 
they were "jacked up." Millions of people, 
said it was impossible, impossible! It was 
Chicago faith — that a thing can be done if one 
starts out to do it — that won the great engi 
neering triumph. 

There was a time when it took weeks to get 
word from Europe. Cyrus W. Field had faith 
that an ocean cable could be laid. Men 
laughed at him, sneered at him, called him 
fool and insane, but his faith told the ocean tc 
get out of the way, and he conquered. To-da} 
what happened at midnight in London is in 
our morning papers. There is no ocean. 

Napoleon said, when he was resolved to 
take an army into Italy, "There shall be no 
Alps." And his tenacious faith kept his 
promise. 

The greatest overcoming power in the 
world is faith — unless it is love. It says to 
the mountains, Get out of the way. It says to 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 117 

oceans, Dry up and let me pass through as on 
dry land. It has more power than money. 
It is the best capital a young man starting into 
business, into medicine, or law, or the ministry, 
can have — faith in his mission, faith in men, 
faith in God. Faith is the power that moves 
mountains. 

Don't stumble over that passage in the 
Bible, — Mark 11:22. It has been done over 
and over again. Every life of faith from the 
days of Paul to Moody has been a mountain 
mover. When once there gets into the heart 
of a man the belief that something must be 
done, and to this end he labors and struggles, 
keeping his faith buoyant and strong, it is 
done. Nothing fails, save when faith has 
gone. 

Faith is the best medicine in the world. 
You will hear people make fun of faith-cures. 
Never mind them. If you fill your heart with 
faith in God, daily commune with the higher 
powers, you will find a cure for seven-eighths 
of the ills of the flesh. 

The great need of life is power to overcome, 
power that will make us win and conquer our 
enemies, — those of the body and of the mind 
and of the soul. This power comes, says Jesus, 
by prayer through faith. 



n8 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

XI 

AN UNUSED CISTERN— GIVING 

God so loved the world that he gave.— John j: 16. 

When I was a boy I sometimes had to clean 
out the cistern. Do you know what a cistern 
is? Ours was under the kitchen floor. I first 
lighted the lantern, then went to the wood- 
shed for a short ladder, and carrying the lan- 
tern went slowly down into the cistern, for 
every boy goes slowly in the dark. He knows 
not what may jump out at him. Father stood 
above me, letting his tin pail down with a 
rope, which I filled, whereupon it was drawn 
up to be again let down and filled. 

What is a cistern? It is a big underground, 
brick-walled room, which by means of spouts 
and troughs is filled with rainwater. God 
sends the rain from the sky, which at first pat- 
ters on the roof of the house, then begins to 
run to the troughs which carry it on until held 
by the cistern. There were cisterns in Egypt, 
in Israel, in Rome, in Greece. 

A cistern I have thought is a great deal like 
our lives. All our gifts come from heaven. 
Our lives are filled with the abundance of God's 
grace. It seems to be a long way from the cis- 
tern to the sky, and one would think that a 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 1 19 

drop of water would get lost. One would 
hardly blame the cistern for thinking that 
heaven had nothing to do with all the sweet, 
soft water that flows into it. Yet our cisterns — 
our lives — are filled with God's grace. 

An unused cistern will soon become foul and 
bitter. The way to keep a cistern pure and 
wholesome is to keep using the pump. Sup- 
pose a cistern should say, "I'll just hold all 
I get. I'll not give out any water." What 
would happen? The water would become stale 
and impure, unfit to drink, unclean for wash- 
ing. Then the water that kept coming would 
run over, soak through the earth and brick wall, 
and rot out the cistern. What is more, the 
water would cease coming after a while and 
the cistern would become empty. The less you 
give the less you get. 

You don't see that? Suppose the ocean 
should say, "I will receive all the water given 
me, I will hold on to it and never give back." 
By and by the rivers would dry up. Old ocean 
is a generous giver. All that it receives it 
gives back in mists and fogs which float up 
to the clouds, which condense them and send 
them down in drops to fill up the rivers. If all 
the cisterns should hold on to what they get, 
and not give out water to sprinkle the lawn, to 



120 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

wash the clothes, to water the flowers and 
shrubs, by and by the clouds would have no 
more to give. Heaven stops giving to us when 
we begin to hold her gifts for ourselves. 

You see why so much is said about giving in 
the Bible and in the church. It is one of 
God's laws that the liberal soul shall be made 
fat, and the stingy soul made lean. An un- 
used life, one that does not give out, give 
money, give time, give thought, is like an un- 
used cistern; it soon becomes stale, and foul, 
and corrupt, and at last loses even what it has. 

A part of your work in life, boys and girls, 
will be to try to get people to give. Their 
welfare will depend upon it. This is the 
reason we have the contribution box, and the 
mission bands and missionary societies. They 
are one kind of pump. They are our friends. 

But you know that the pumps won't do the 
work by themselves. Some one must work 
them. Let me tell you one way to do it. I 
remember that I used to come out into the 
kitchen to get a basin of water, with which to 
wash my hands or feet before going to bed. 
(Those were the days of bare feet.) I worked 
the handle up and down and no water came. 
I then took a dipper and went to the reservoir, 
brought a little hot water, lifted the handle up 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 121 

and poured the water down the pump. Then 
I worked the handle up and down, and lo, all 
the water I wanted poured out. This is called 
priming the pump. You must prime people 
if you wish them to give. Give a little out of 
your own reservoir, and very likely it will 
reach down and bring up bucketsful from other 
people's cisterns. 



XII 

AN UNPLANTED SEED— SERVICE 

Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, 
it abideth alone.— John 12: 24. 

While you hold in your hand a grain of corn 
let me talk to you about the lesson it teaches 
us about life. 

One leading question that you must soon 
answer is this: What am I going to do with my 
life? You are being trained at home: made to 
go to bed early, to eat good food, to fill your 
lungs with fresh air, made to take your music 
lessons and to attend the day school with 
regularity. When it is all done what are you 
going to do with yourself? 

Not, are you going to be a teacher, or a law- 



122 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

yer, or a merchant, or a minister. The choice 
of a profession is not as important as the way 
you are to use your life. What are you going 
to do with yourself after you have been raised 
and come out to perfection like this grain of 
corn? 

Hear the kernel speak, "Two ways are open 
to you and you may take your choice. You may 
live for yourself, or you may live for the serv- 
ice of the world. If I should be bottled up I 
should be just as I am for a great many years, 
abiding by myself, until shriveling up, I 
should lose all the life I ever had. But if I 
should be dropped in the earth — the soft mellow 
earth — losing myself, the life in me would 
grow and finally bring forth a great ear of 
corn, perhaps two, holding hundreds of grains 
like myself. These two ways are open to you, 
just as they are to me — which will you choose?" 

The kernel has finished its sermon, and what 
shall we say? 

We are all at first attracted by the easy and 
selfish way. Young and inexperienced people 
are apt to choose the pleasure nearest at hand. 
Those, however, who know life know that the 
best things are only gained by sacrificing the 
pleasure of to-day for the reward of to-mor- 
row. If we were to follow the experience of 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 123 

two grains of corn, one that was put in a bot- 
tle and the other that was put in the ground, 
the former for several weeks would seem to 
have decidedly the advantage. It was keep- 
ing its nice glossy, golden coat, while the 
grain in the ground was losing itself. After a 
while, however, a difference begins to appear. 
The grain in the ground puts forth a tiny 
green blade, which grows up into the light 
and air, and leaps up for six feet above the 
ground, waving its bright tassel and finally 
bringing forth the golden ear of corn. The 
fruit-bearing seed has all the advantage. 

What shall you do with your life? Plant it 
in service, not keep it in selfishness. What- 
ever you are called to do, put yourself into the 
service. It will seem to be a hard and un- 
pleasant and dark way at times, but you will 
soon discover that a life of service is the only 
life that the world has use for, and that honor 
and happiness come only to him who serves. 



124 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

XIII 

ALL IN A NUTSHELL— LOVE 

God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in 
God, and God in him. — i John 4: 16. 

I hold in my hand a nutshell. Is it a 
hickory-nut, or walnut, or almond? This makes 
no difference. Any nutshell will answer. This 
particular one is an acorn, and a big oak-tree 
is hidden away in this little shell. When 
people say, "All in a nutshell," they mean they 
will tell the whole story in a word, they will 
sum up all they have been talking about in 
some brief way, which can be easily remem- 
bered and carried away. 

I have been talking about the kind of a life 
a boy or girl ought to live. I have said many 
things, and you have forgotten much. You 
can't carry it all with you. I wish therefore 
to give it all to you "in a nutshell," in one 
word. Here it is, Love. 

Jesus was once asked to mention the greatest 
commandment. There are so many rules of 
conduct, and this man wanted to know the 
greatest, — to have the question of life put in a 
nutshell. Jesus thought a moment, "The great- 
est commandment? Why, it is 'Love God.' But 
wait, there is another almost, if not quite, as 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 125 

great; it is 'Love your neighbor.' " Here is life 
in a nutshell. 

The great man Paul was once writing a letter 
to the church at Rome — a letter that discussed 
some of the greatest problems of life. He 
wrote about "faith," and "works," and "the 
spirit," and "sin," and "salvation"; but 
toward the close, when he wanted to sum it all 
up he said, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." 

There was another great man, John, who 
grew to be aged in wisdom. He was so good 
and great that to this day men call him "John 
the Divine." He used to write about God and 
living right; but one day he said, "If you want 
to know all about it in one word, I will tell 
you, 'God is love.' I can say no more " 

A great Scotchman was about to die. He 
had lived so well and said so many wise words 
that the people at his bedside listened closely 
to hear what his last words would be. His 
lips moved, and they bent over and caught 
these words: "Jesus — love. Jesus — love." This 
was all, but it summed up all the wisdom of 
his experience. 

The richest home is poor without love. The 
largest church is weak without love. The fin- 
est education is vanity without love. The 
handsomest girl will grow ugly without love. 



126 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

The most athletic boy is only a brute without 
love. 

Love will bring happiness and power to the 
poor and weak and ignorant and homely. 

Love sums it all up, puts it in a nutshell. 
Where love is, God is, for God is love. 



XIV 
FROM CHRYSALIS TO BUTTERFLY 

Are changed into the same image from glory to 
glory. — 2 Cor. j: 18. 

I called last night to see Mr. Longley. He 
is the man who works all day in a great busi- 
ness house, but has a corner of his brain left 
with which to study moths and butterflies. 
What a stack of drawers he has filled with 
specimens, from his own dooryard and from 
South America — thousands of them. 

I asked him to tell me something about but- 
terflies. He reached his hand out and picked 
up a little box, and drew back the lid. Put 
your eyes down close; what do you see? 

In the corner are seven or eight little 
specks, about as large as granulated sugar, but 
with brownish color. Those are eggs. All 



The LIFE I OUGHT to LIVE 127 

life comes from eggs, you know. When the 
spring sun begins to shine these eggs hatch, 
and out crawls a little black baby worm — a 
caterpillar. It eats and eats, in fact is one 
big appetite, just like the baby sister in your 
home. It gets to be so big that it throws off 
its black coat, and puts on a yellow one. It 
keeps right on eating and eating, and finally 
must have a bigger coat, this time a green 
one. By and by it begins to build a house by 
spinning liquid silk from its own body. 
There, you see, is the house, a silk cocoon. 
From such silk houses silk dresses are made. 
In this house, shut in, it lives and breathes — 
and that is about all. But one day — do you 
see the big moth in this box — it begins to 
break through its silk house and to become 
what it was made to become, a beautiful silk- 
winged, many-colored insect, flying from tree 
to tree. 

When Mr. Longley told me the story I could 
only say, "Wonderful! Wonderful! What 
changes! From a worm to a beautiful butter- 
fly!" 

I learned two things from this story: First, 
that not all worms become perfect butterflies. 
Something happens. A poisonous fly lays an 
egg on the butterfly's egg and kills it. The 



128 TALKS to BOYS and GIRLS 

caterpillars are destroyed by boys or birds. 
The chrysalis, like the seed in the thorny 
ground, is choked to death. "That is sin," 
said Mr. Longley, "in the butterfly world." 

Second, I learned that if my God can do such 
wonderful things as to change that minute 
egg into a butterfly, He certainly will take 
care of me. He will see, if I do not sin and 
disobey His laws, that in all the changes of life 
and death I shall not perish, and that if I fol- 
low and obey His Son I shall be changed into 
His same image from glory to glory. 



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